


The Other Tiny Hawkeye

by CanuckleheadCowgirl, magnetocerebro



Series: The 495 Marvel Universe [5]
Category: Avengers (Comics), Hawkeye (Comics), X-Men (Comicverse), Young Avengers
Genre: Cute Kids, Gen, Kidverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-08-24 03:55:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 37,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16632449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanuckleheadCowgirl/pseuds/CanuckleheadCowgirl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetocerebro/pseuds/magnetocerebro
Summary: Clint and Barney Barton just got to see their adoptive parents, Logan and K, get married. So things are looking pretty good right now.Sure, there are already jokes about Logan and K having kids of their own, but the boys are pretty confident that won't happen for a while.Except fate has a funny way of making these things happen anyway. So when Logan brings home a couple orphaned girls, it looks like their little family is getting bigger whether they planned it that way or not.





	1. A Valentine's Surprise

 

* * *

Logan, K, and the Barton boys did eventually head back home — making sure to get there before Christmas so the boys could have the full experience of the  _entire_ X-Men clan together around the big Christmas tree. It was the biggest Christmas they'd ever had, and they clearly loved it.

But in the weeks after that… it was non-stop work. At least for Logan.

The Avengers had just come in from a run, and Logan had been bouncing back and forth between both teams  _heavily_  over the past couple months. More so than usual. He never could understand why Hydra insisted on doing  _more_ around the holidays, but they did. Which was fine, if not for the fact that most of the stupid anti-mutant groups had the same idea. And if that wasn't enough … a hot tip had come in from Yukio. Fisk was back in town after months of working overseas.

It was too much to pass up. He had to move on it while he could.

"You literally just got here," Jean said, one eyebrow raised, from the doorway.

"And I'll be back before you know it," Logan said, ignoring the look Jean was giving him. Particularly since he  _wasn't_ entirely in uniform. "This is a quick one."

"Every time you say that, I swear, you end up with an army after you and two months of fighting behind you."

Logan stopped and held both hands out at his sides. "I really don't know what you're talkin' about, Jeannie. I got word in from a friend. The window is small."

"You just got married not that long ago."

"You don't say." Logan shook his head at her with a little smirk. "What's that got to do with it anyhow?"

"Well, shouldn't you be spending more time with them?" she asked pointedly.

"Which team should I drop?"

"That's not…" Jean shook her head. "I'm just saying."

"She knew what I was involved in and she married me anyhow. If you knew what this was — or how important it was — you wouldn't be lookin' at me the way you are," Logan said.

Jean let out a huff. "Well, fine. I'll just steal your boys," she said.

"Good luck gettin' 'em from K. They said they had plans."

"Of course they do," she said, shaking her head. "More fun with you, though. I'm sure."

"Don't let Slim hear you say that," Logan called out over his shoulder.

"Not what I meant and you know it!"

"No I don't!" Logan closed the door behind himself and made a quick rush for his Jeep. It had been a while since he'd been to town the old-fashioned way, and it was still just a bit too cold to  _not_ get pulled over for riding the motorcycle in the snow and ice. But after that … it was an easy ride in.

When Logan got to where Fisk was conducting business, he was in the wrong part of town for the Japanese Yakuza that Fisk  _usually_ worked with, so at least the Hand shouldn't bother him  _too_ much on this run. That … would have made Jean right, and it was more than Logan wanted to listen to, frankly.

When the first group of lowlifes left, Logan stood up to step out of his hiding spot, but a little sound caught his attention and had him pausing. The next group that came forward wasn't the drug dealers he was used to seeing around Wilson Fisk. This … this looked like a semi-legitimate businessman — if not for the pack of tracksuit-wearing thugs around him. To put the cherry on the top, Fisk's personal manservant had a toddler in his arms who was clearly related to the businessman — which really just put this on a whole new level of psycho. Even for Fisk.

Logan didn't even realize that he was almost holding his breath as he watched things fall into place — every muscle tensed and ready to strike out at the first sign of trouble.

"It's really so simple, Mr. Bishop," Fisk was telling the nervous-looking businessman. "It was absolutely clear when you joined the Board exactly what was expected of you. And here I find you keeping separate books…"

"That had nothing to do with you," the man — apparently Bishop — insisted. "That was to keep my wife's nose out of it."

"Yes. I did hear about Colorado. Such a tragedy."

Bishop frowned a little harder and shook his head. "I didn't want to do it."

"Mr. Bishop, I didn't come to find you to talk about your wife  _or_ her knowledge of your membership. I came because the Board doesn't tolerate members who deal under the table. We built our circle on trust, you see. And I have to trust that you won't turn around and sell your soul to the next devil with a deal."

"I'm not double dealing," Bishop promised. "I'm just trying to keep my girls safe."

"Yes." Fisk glanced toward where the little toddler was hiding in Wesley's chest — apparently trusting him more than the guys in tracksuits. And Logan could see now that there was a girl just about three years older on Wesley's other side — though she'd been pretty hidden until that point. "Your girls will simply have to serve as collateral until we can come to a more equitable agreement on the matter of your less-than-stellar bookkeeping."

Logan pulled his cowl over his head as the conversation wore on. No reason to do this halfway. The uniform would be enough to let the peons know he meant business anyhow. "That's enough, Fisk," Logan called out before he dropped out of the rafters. "You're not going to touch those kids."

Fisk glared at Logan a moment before he ordered his men to deal with the issue and clapped one hand on Bishop's shoulder to turn him. "We'll continue this elsewhere."

Logan didn't even hesitate to start fighting, though with two little girls in the room, he wasn't going to make it bloody if he could help it. Watching Fisk walking away was more than he could handle, too. Especially considering the last time they crossed paths. And he wasn't going to let them slip away.

He waited for the girls to be just out of sight before he let loose with a snarl and quit playing nice, rushing through them to follow. "You can't run, Fisk!" he shouted, sure that he was heard when the guards between himself and Fisk paused in the fight.

"Don't be idiotic," Fisk said, obviously to his men. "Stop him before the rest of the Avengers show up."

Logan heard the order and doubled down on his speed — though it was taking everything he had to keep the red line back. Especially with how cocky Fisk was being. He  _wanted_ to warn these idiots off, since clearly, if they were going against the Avengers, they were likely in the wrong — but by the expressions half or better of them were wearing, they already knew it.

And while Fisk and Bishop had no issues trying to slip out while the men fought Logan, Wesley was a little hampered by the two girls. The older one wasn't fighting or saying anything as Wesley pulled her along, but the toddler was positively pitching a fit.

"No, no, no, no, no," she said, tipping over nearly out of Wesley's arms trying to get away. "Nevengers! We gotta go wit Nevengers!"

"We're not going into that fight," Wesley insisted, obviously annoyed and hampered by having to deal with both girls, which really just prompted a whole round of "no"s from the little girl that Logan could hear from where he was.

In the center of the fight, Logan had gone entirely into his meditative zone, ignoring the bullet wounds and simply incapacitating as many men as he could — though when he got close to one of the guys with a heavy rifle, he switched tactics fast and with a snarl as he charged him and sliced the gun to ribbons. It was just a matter of time before he got away from the assault, and when he  _did_ finally break down enough of them that the rest scattered, Logan was absolutely a growling, bloody mess — but even at that, the snarl was easily  _seen_ even behind his mask as he stalked toward the guards tightest around Fisk. "I still owe you one," Logan said, his focus clearly locked onto Fisk. "But I'm gonna give your men a chance. They can get out now and be able to walk out of here and stop bein' a lowlife. No reason for them to go down with you."

There were a few that took Logan up on that out of sheer self-preservation. Among them was, of course, Bishop, who was trying clearly to distance himself from the mess — but all that earned him was a few seconds' distance before one of the men who had stayed shot him, presumably to keep him from going to the police or witnessing against them.

"Dad!" It was the first time the older girl had said anything — and it was decidedly higher-pitched and more terrified-sounding than her baby sister.

"Cover your eyes, girls," Logan said as he rushed toward the guy that had shot Bishop, and though they did, they didn't miss the sound of more gunfire — and some very angry shouts from Fisk that went hand in hand with a whole lot of very scary, very low, loud snarls.

And then, very suddenly, things went quiet, and Wesley found himself with two whimpering girls on a totally silent street.

"You harm one hair on their heads—" Logan started to say before Wesley cut in.

"I have no intention to," he said firmly, even going so far as to set the younger girl down. "In fact, I'd be glad to be relieved of my, ah, attachments."

"That's good to hear," Logan said as he pulled out his comm — and reached out to a local friend. "Pretty sure you won't have any trouble with Fisk again." The comment was directed to the person on the other end of the line, but Wesley did not look pleased to hear it. "How long'll it take you to get to that big ugly warehouse Fisk  _owned_ on the river?"

Wesley narrowed his eyes for a moment and pressed his lips together. "Past tense?"

"You hush," Logan said to him. "Let the hero types figure out which jail you belong in."

"You in tru-bble," the younger girl whispered, her cheeks stained with tears but the beginning of a troublemaking smile on her face, though her sister was almost frantically shushing her.

"You girls okay?" Logan asked.

The older girl hid behind Wesley, but her sister was grinning and nodding and holding her arms out to Logan. "You fix Daddy, right?"

Logan let out a sigh and crouched down to the little girl's level and pulled what remained of his cowl off. "I've got help on the way, but I can't fix that, darlin."

The little girl pushed out her lower lip and lost her wide smile. "You Nevenger!"

Logan nodded at that but kept his expression level. "There are some things that even Avengers just can't fix."

For just a second, the little girl's expression wavered before she darted forward, away from Wesley, and positively buried herself in Logan's shoulder with a terrified little sob that almost drowned out her sister's scared, "Katie, no!"

Logan took a moment to gently wrap her up in a bear hug and quietly told her she was going to be alright. "I gotcha kiddo."

Katie's big sister was still hiding behind a fairly annoyed Wesley, though she was also very quietly crying — but too scared of Logan to get any closer. Which was the sort of scene Matt wasn't expecting when he arrived.

"Hey," Logan said, though he kept right at Katie's level, looking up at Matt. "They were using kids as collateral."

"Yeah, I wish that surprised me," Matt replied, though he tipped his head toward where the older sister was with Wesley. "Want to explain … that?"

"He was the one keepin' track of 'em."

Matt's mouth was a thin line, and Logan could see all the signs that he was  _mad,_ but when he went to where the little girl and Wesley were, his body language was forcibly open as he crouched down to her level. "Hey, it's alright," he said gently. "No one is going to hurt you."

"There's a lotta blood," the little girl said.

Matt smirked. "Yeah, there is," he said. "But we can find you someplace safe, alright?"

The little girl looked between Wesley, Matt, and Logan before she settled on her sister and gulped and nodded. "No… no p'lice."

Matt paused. "Why not?"

"Daddy says they take us 'way," Katie whispered to Logan.

"We won't let anyone take you anywhere you don't want to go," Matt promised.

"I drove here," Logan told Matt. "If they'll agree to it, I can take them to Westchester."

Matt nodded and tipped his head to Katie's older sister. "I'm going to take care of the bad guys, but Wolverine is my friend, even if he's got a little blood on his clothes. You can tell him it's gross; he's not a girl, and he's bad at looking pretty."

That finally got the little girl to giggle, and she nodded. "Yeah, he is."

"So, what do you say?"

She bit her lip and then, very slowly, she nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I can do that."

"I'm not too far down the street," Logan said as he pulled back from Katie just a little bit. "You wanna walk, or do you need to be carried?"

The little girl rolled her eyes, finally looking a bit more like her outgoing sister. "I can do it."

"Yeah? What about you, half-pint?" Logan asked Katie.

Katie glanced up at Logan and then smiled lightly and latched on. "Susie can walk," she muttered.

Logan smirked but was sure to give her another little bear hug, since she was insisting on snuggling in. He turned toward Matt and Susie and shook his head. "You can call me Logan."

Katie giggled at that. "I'm Katie."

Logan smirked at her again. "You girls hungry? We can stop on the way."

Susie shook her head. "Not s'pposed to eat what strangers give you."

Logan nodded at that before he quietly offered her his hand. "Susie, right? Well … if you don't want to trust me yet, that's fine. Do you like any of the  _other_ Avengers? You can call them and ask if I'm alright."

Susie bit her lip and nodded. "I… I like Cap'n Marvel."

Katie stuck her tongue out. "She likes her cuz she's  _new_ and a  _girl_."

"I like her cuz she's a whole lotta fun." Logan replied as he pulled out the phone that Stark insisted they all carry. He crouched down so that Susie could see the contacts and let her scroll down to Carol's picture — which was a candid one without her mask on.

Susie glanced up at Logan, bit her lip, and then started to bounce a little bit as Logan let her hit the call button. "Wow, wow, wow," she whispered before Carol had even picked up.

"Hey, spitfire," Logan said once Carol answered the call. "I have a young lady here that needs to know if it's safe to travel with me for an hour."

It was clear that wasn't exactly what Carol had expected from a call from him, but she quickly caught up. "Yeah, sure, put her on."

Logan wordlessly handed Susie the phone and sat back on his heels to wait, even with Katie still holding on tight. He watched as Susie whispered a quiet 'hi' into the phone — and then watched her eyes get wider and wider until she was positively giggling by the time she handed the phone back to Logan.

"Yes, I promise I'll bring more money to poker next time," Logan said once Carol had taken a minute to let him know what she thought of all the missed opportunities to bleed his wallet dry.

Katie giggled and latched onto Logan a little more. "So… we gonna see 'Nevengers?"

"I can promise you'll see one more for sure," Logan said. "He's on two teams with me too."

"Oooh, who?"

"Big furry fella gets called Beast a lot," Logan said as he started to walk with them.

"Ooh, he's blue," Katie said. "I see'd him. I see'd him on TV!"

Logan looked over to Susie. "I'd bet that Carol won't let it drop until she comes to meet you, too. After a phone call like that, she's gonna want a face to go with the check-in."

"Really?" Susie asked, her eyes lighting up. "Really really?"

Logan couldn't help but chuckle. "She doesn't get too many chances to give me a hard time."

"Um, she's the best Avenger," Susie said with a little sniff. "So there."

"She's my favorite too," Logan told her.

"My fav-wit's Wasp," Katie put in with a smile. "I wanna fly like her!"

"Then you're in luck," Logan said. "She likes to say hi to the kids at the school.'

"Katie's not big 'nuff for school. She's three," Susie said, wrinkling her nose.

"Then she'll have to spend some time with the other little girl there, but she's a lot smaller," Logan said.

"Like … like a baby?" Susie asked, her eyes wide.

Logan nodded; the Jeep was within sight now. "Yeah, her name's Rachel."

"That's pretty," Katie said, snuggling in a little tighter so her head was under his chin.

"My family has a dog that'll pester you if you like animals, too," Logan told them.

"I like dogs!" Katie said.

"Nuh-uh. I like rabbits," Susie said, sticking her tongue out. "My Kindergarten teacher has one!"

"What do you think of horses?" Logan asked them as he opened the door to the Jeep.

"Ooh, I love horses!" Susie gushed. "Mom let me ride a pony last summer!"

"My wife loves to help little girls learn how to ride," Logan told them as they got settled into the backseat. "There's a blanket behind the seat if you're cold. Least until the heat kicks in."

"Thanks. My ears're froze," Katie said, even as Susie was the one to get the blanket.

Logan waited to be sure they were both snuggled in before he climbed in himself and started up the car to get rolling. Neither one of them seemed to be too bugged about the ride, giggling at the bouncing around every time they hit a bump or turned a corner fast. And when they got to Westchester, he took both of them down to see Hank first thing. "Hey Blue — got a minute?" Logan called out. "I got a couple friends you probably need to say hi to while I get cleaned up."

Hank looked up with a smile that turned much warmer when he saw the two little girls. "What have we here?" he asked.

Susie had turned shy again, but Katie waved with one hand — even though she refused to let go of Logan's shirt with the other. "Hi. We came wit Wolver-neen."

Hank smiled widely as he got closer to the two little girls, making a show out of adjusting his glasses. "You'll have to tell me how he got so lucky as to find  _two_ precious little girls."

"He didn't find us," Susie said quietly. "He found bad guys and we were there." She was almost unconsciously moving closer to Hank — and away from the bloodier Avenger.

"Oh, well that makes much more sense," Hank said, nodding solemnly. "Would you let me make sure you're both healthy and well? Once we're done, I always provide my wonderful patients with a Twinkie — and then of course, there is a bit of a feast upstairs as well."

"I'm not real hungry," Susie admitted, though she did pick her arms up so Hank could pick her up and set her at eye height to check and make sure no harm had been done to her. When Hank pulled out his stethoscope, she held her breath and leaned forward. "We… we got away but… but my Dad got hurt," she whispered.

Logan met Hank's gaze with an expression that clearly said 'wasn't me' before he caught Katie's gaze. "Can you let Hank give you a check over while I get the blood off? I'll be right back."

Katie's smile faltered, and she looked scared for a second before she shook her head and reattached. "No goin'."

"Alright, I won't go anywhere," Logan promised as he got comfortable. Hank let out a breath and crossed the room to at least give Logan a wet cloth to clean his face up.

"For the other small residents," Hank said.

"Katie's weird," Susie said, rolling her eyes.

"She's little," Hank said quietly. "And Logan scares the bad guys just like he is."

"He scares me a little," Susie admitted quietly, hugging her arms and looking small.

"he won't be quite so scary once Katie lets him clean up," Hank said, resting a hand on her shoulder.

Susie nodded for just a second before she seemed to follow her sisters lead and simply attached to Hank and started to very quietly cry and tell him  _everything_ that had happened. Everything from the bad men coming to her house to the scary men with guns to the fact that someone had shot their dad…. All of it came out with little hiccoughs as tears and snot got in Hank's fur.


	2. You Bring Them Home in Pairs!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the rest of the family meets the girls.

 

* * *

When the girls had finally settled down a little bit — enough for her to let Hank check over Katie — Logan tried and failed again to slip off to get out of the battered and bloodied uniform. Which was how he found himself heading out of the lab a bit later with the clean flannel shirt that he kept in his locker draped over Katie, who swore she was  _cold_ and not at all scared of the other kids that were making noise as they got into their Valentine's party. Susie was pretty well tucked into Hank and was clearly upset and didn't want to go anywhere, but Katie wanted to go with Logan, so… here he was.

He ran into Barney first out of all the members of his little family. The kid was red all the way down to his toes — but it wasn't hard to figure out why when he was grinning as hard as he was and Kitty had a box of Valentine's chocolates in hand just a few feet away.

"She kiss you?" Logan asked, one eyebrow raised when Barney turned toward him.

Barney looked startled for a second and turned even redder as he nodded. "Just… just on the cheek…" he stammered.

Logan thought about it for a moment as he kept heading toward the stairs. "Alright. For now. Still don't know who I'd have to scare for that one."

"She's got a crush on the big Russian guy," Barney said in a sigh.

"Yeah, I know," Logan said, letting a little growl go with it. "Izzat the only girl you were chasin' today, ladykiller?"

Barney shrugged. "Only one I'm interested in here. I mean, there's a cute girl at the circus, but… she's not here, so…"

Logan chuckled at that. "Don't let your mom hear you talk like that. She'll start callin' you the wanderer."

Barney made a face. "Well, I'm  _not_ ," he said before he seemed to realize that Logan's flannel shirt was moving. "Um, what…"

Logan turned toward him but didn't answer him. "Is there a problem?"

"Your shirt…"

"Which one?"

Barney blinked at him and then peered closer to see Katie's little hand scrunched up in Logan's shirt. "You got a little girl? What… even happened?"

"She likes me," Logan deadpanned as they turned down the hall. "No idea why."

"Huh." Barney shook his head. "So… what's the story?"

"Bad guys ticked me off, girls got out with me," Logan said with a shrug. "Now we're here."

"Huh," Barney said again, though he didn't push — like Logan knew Clint was going to.

When they finally got into the room, the lights inside were out, a movie was going, and Clint looked a little irritated at the late arrival on  _Valentine's Day_. "Hey sweetheart," Logan said as he stepped in — still in the torn up, bloodied uniform. "Things ran a lil' late."

"Did you deal with the problem?" K asked, tipping her head back with a little smirk — though that fell when she saw that he wasn't alone.

"More or less," Logan said. "Someone here wants to meet you, I think. Kid's had a hard night."

K untangled herself from where Clint and Arrow both were curled up with her, then crossed the room to where Logan was outright smirking by that point. "What … in the hell …" K reached up to very gently lift up the edge of the flannel — just enough to see Katie peeking out.

"Why do you have a little girl in your shirt?" Clint blurted out.

"That's where she wanted to be," Logan said, as if that was the only reasonable explanation.

"Hi," K said, almost resting her head on Logan's shoulder so she was at a good level to speak to the little one. "Are you okay?"

Katie hid her face in Logan's shoulder, though her eyes were peeking out. "Mmmhmm," she said softly.

"Want to watch the movie with Clint and me?" K asked. "We have chocolate and popcorn."

Katie picked up her head a little more and narrowed her eyes, studying K — since she didn't recognize her as an Avenger or anything. But then she saw K's ring and tipped her head to the side. "You ... you got a mawwiage ring."

K smiled a little at that and nodded. "Yeah, I do. We're married. He's pretty good, right?"

Katie nodded. "He's a 'Nevenger."

"And a great teddy bear."

"Think you can let me clean up now?" Logan asked Katie in a rumble. "I promise I'm not goin' anywhere. Not without my girl."

Katie looked between Logan and K and finally, slowly, nodded. "But … but come back fast," she whispered.

"I'll be real fast," Logan swore, then took just a second to steal a quick kiss from K on his way to get washed up.

"Do you want to hold the remote?" K asked Katie. "We dumped M&M's and Milk Duds into the popcorn already."

"I had a Twinkie," Katie said quietly.

"Okay. well …. Wanna throw Milk Duds at the people on screen when they kiss? That's always fun."

Katie smiled and nodded and climbed up by Clint… and then grinned outright when she saw Arrow. "I like dogs!"

Clint grinned. "Me too," he said. "This is my dog. His name is Arrow."

"Hi, Arrow," Kate said, waving before she covered her mouth with one hand and giggled.

On hearing his name, Arrow scooted toward her with his tongue hanging out in a rush to rest his head on her knee — almost whimpering as he did so. "He'll do that until you pet him," K said. "And then he'll lick you. You can give him popcorn, but no chocolate, okay?"

"Okay," Katie said, giggling as she reached out and very,  _very_ carefully pet Arrow. "I love him."

"He's the best dog ever," Clint agreed. "My dad gave him to me!"

"That's a real nice dad."

"Yeah, and I have the best mom too," Clint said, grinning up at K.

Katie blinked. "You got a dog from  _Logan-Wolver-neen_?"

Clint grinned. "He married my mom!"

"Wow." Katie grinned over at Clint. "That's so cool."

"Uh-huh." Clint smiled at Katie. "How'd  _you_ find my dad?"

"He ressued me an' Susie from a mountain man!" Katie declared dramatically.

"Who's Susie?" Barney asked.

"My sissy," Katie said. "She's wit Beast 'cause she scared." She leaned forward. "I not scared."

"You seemed to be very brave to me," K agreed, pulling her feet up onto the couch to get comfortable. "Were you having a nice Valentine's before all the rescuing? Because I'm sure Clint can get you more heart-shaped stuff if you need it. They have a ton of it downstairs."

Clint made a face. " _Barney_ does Valentines."

"I didn't say you wanted to  _kiss her_ ," K defended. "Just that you'd be a gentleman and give her some stuff if she  _needed_ it."

"I don't need it," Katie said, hiding a bit in Arrow. "My mommy's gone, and she always does choc-lit."

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry," K said in a much more genuine tone that the little one was used to hearing.

Katie nodded for a second, but her lip started to quiver — and then Clint got there faster than K did and wrapped Katie up in a hug.

"My real mom died too," he said. "It's real sad, and it hurts a lot, and sometimes you just gotta hug."

K watched the two of them for a moment before she got up to grab a little more chocolate for the kids — even if Katie said she was okay. She was only finished with loading up the Milk Dud ammunition when Logan came out — fresh and clean. He didn't give her any warning before he pulled her into a long kiss that didn't stop until Clint cleared his throat.

"Um…" Katie frowned at Logan. "You look … not like you…"

"I did take a shower," Logan pointed out. "And I don't wear the yellow uniform everywhere." He looked down at his jeans and t-shirt. "But it's me."

"That's what he looks like usually," Clint said helpfully.

Katie pursed her lips and let out a drawn out "Okaaaay," before she climbed over to Logan and practically crawled up onto his chest to make herself comfortable again.

The little group settled in for the night — and it wasn't until both Katie and Clint were soundly asleep that K picked her head up from Logan's other shoulder. "You brought home a  _pair_ of little girls."

"Wasn't what I went out for."

"Doesn't matter. You brought home little girls. That is  _not_ going to be a recurring major holiday standard, is it?"

"No." Logan shook his head at that. "Probably not. Can't keep it just for holidays anyhow. Happens when it happens."

"So what's the plan?" K had to ask. "She clearly is staking her claim. What about the other one?"

Logan shrugged lightly. "She didn't really care for me much. I guess … we just wait an' see if they want to stick around or if there's family out there for 'em."

Katie stirred slightly, blinked, and reached up and covered Logan's mouth with one hand, snuggling in with a quiet "shhh."

Logan chuckled and took a hold of her hand so he could kiss her palm — which got a soft giggle. "Go back to sleep, troublemaker," he told her. "I'm not done with my sweetheart yet."

"Shhh," Katie giggled, snuggling right in.

Logan smirked a little harder at that and very softly let out a little growl that she felt much more than heard — and then he tickled her.

Of course, with all the excitement, it didn't take long before Katie fell back asleep on Logan's chest — and it was only about ten minutes later that Hank arrived, carrying Susan, who was also asleep and clutched tightly onto him.

"How's she doin, Hank?" Logan asked quietly.

"Exhausted — emotionally, physically…" Hank shook his head.

"Yeah, been a rough day," Logan agreed, tipping his head to Katie. "Exhibit A."

Hank smirked at that. "I thought I should bring her up to be with the rest of the group."

"If she'll go, you mean," K said in a smoky tone — showing exactly how tired most of them were.

"She did seem to be concerned for her little sister," Hank said.

"Well, bring her over. I don't want you to try and drop her off here, though," K said. "Let her pick. She's had a hard enough time today without thinking she's been  _handed off_. Let her decide where to stay."

Clint had fallen asleep curled up with Arrow, and Barney had come in and was still watching a movie — and quietly observing the group at large as the conversation wore on.

Hank looked around the group before he nodded. "Then… perhaps I could borrow a sleeping bag from you…"

"Couch is yours if you'd like it," K offered, getting to her feet. "I'll get a few pillows for you. A blanket — though I doubt you  _need_ that."

Hank chuckled. "It's surprising how much of a heater this little one is."

"I was looking more at the fur," K teased as she got him settled in with Susie, though Barney was sure to help out too. When Hank was getting comfortable, Susie woke partway up. "Katie's sleeping," K whispered to her. "She's right here. We're not separating you, okay?"

Susie glanced up at Hank and bit her lip. "Really?"

"Ain't nobody splitting families," Barney said suddenly, and very fervently. "I promise."

K couldn't help but smile at him before she leaned over to kiss his cheek. "That's right."

Susie bit her lip as she watched Barney and then looked past him until she could see Katie and finally relaxed. "She's real little," Susie said tiredly as she put her head back down on Hank's shoulder. "She's not six like me."

"That doesn't matter," K promised as she brushed Susie's bangs out of her face, then started to tuck her in right where she was curled up. "We'll keep you two together just like we're keeping Clint and Barney together."

Barney nodded. "Yeah. Even though I'm eleven and a half, they still want me. You got nothing to be scared of, okay?"

Susie nodded slowly and then snuggled back in, asleep almost as soon as she had closed her eyes.

"You are the sweetest boy," K said after she'd stepped back from Susie, only to wrap Barney up in a bear hug and kiss his cheek again.

Barney blushed. "I'm just saying stuff that's true."

"And I'm just saying you need more kisses."

"Okay, Mom," Barney said, shaking his head — though he gave her a hug all the same.


	3. What's Love Got to Do With Getting Married?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Bishop sisters are starting to warm up to the Barton brothers.

 

* * *

The following morning, the extended group that had gathered up in Logan and K's suite made their way downstairs. Susie had slept in a little harder than Katie — mostly because Katie had woken up not long after Logan and K had while they were chatting and trying to decide how to handle things. But that was a good time all the same, since Barney and Clint were sleeping lightly with the newcomers in their suite, and both boys were quick to offer Katie a hand getting around the place.

Clint in particular knew how scary it could be to explore a new place and to try to get used to a new home when everything was so much bigger than she was — since he'd been much younger than Barney was when they started bouncing around. And he made sure that she wasn't even alone as she got up and moving — and made sure she knew where all the important things were (like the movies, snacks, and best places to play).

It was a little overwhelming, and there was no way Katie was going to remember all of it, but Clint promised that he'd stick with her until she was okay.

By the time the kids met back up with Logan and K, K was half curled up on her chair and Logan was fixing up their coffee. He took both of their mugs and made his way across the room, only to set K's mug down in front of her and steal a good morning kiss before he sat down next to her. The two of them half curled into each other as they started reading the paper together after that — and to most of the mansion's residents, that was a perfectly normal and reasonable morning occurrence.

What's more, the peaceful quiet continued — and when Logan was out of coffee, K picked up both of their mugs and went to refill them without a word spoken between them. And again, when she returned with fresh coffee for both, he lifted his arm for her to settle in as they got back to the paper.

For Clint and Barney, it was totally normal — though Barney was distracted saying hello to Susie and Hank when they finally got downstairs as well (with Susie rubbing her eyes tiredly the whole time), so Barney didn't see what Clint did: that Katie was watching Logan and K with a sort of bright-eyed confusion.

She was still pretty new to everything, though, so Clint didn't say anything until Jean and Scott came downstairs with Rachel too — and then Katie looked even more confused as she watched those two teasing each other over coffee and stealing kisses. Even if most of their flirting was in their heads, it was pretty obvious they were being affectionate and holding hands and stuff.

Clint tipped his head to the side as he watched Katie. She was so  _very_ intent on the two couples, and it had his gears turning….

After Logan and K had worked through a few cups each, K leaned over to steal a little longer kiss. "I'm headed to the barn if anyone wants to help," she said — clearly directed more at the kids that were hanging around than at Logan, though he was simply smirking back at her.

"I can help," Barney said quickly — which, surprisingly, had Susie perking up and nodding.

"With horses?" she asked.

"Yep," K replied. "We have twenty that need breakfast. Barney can tell you their names."

Susie broke into a wide smile at that, and Barney drew himself up and nodded. "Yeah, I can show you where to get the grain scoop and all that," he said, which had the little girl totally starry-eyed as she bounced in place.

"Please oh please!" she sang out.

"We'll be back before you know it," K said as she gave Logan's shoulder a squeeze, then ruffled Clint's hair on her way past, with Barney and Susie in tow.

Clint patted his hair back down into place and grinned at his mom before he scooted closer to Katie, who was munching on her Pop Tart and watching Scott and Jean.

"You can say hi if you want," he said.

"Okay," Katie said, though she didn't actually get up to do so.

Clint tipped his head to the side and then jumped down off his chair to go grab Jean's hand and tug on her a bit. "You should meet Katie. Logan brought her and her sister home last night," he said.

"He did what now?" Jean asked, turning his way. "I didn't hear anything last night about new kids."

"I'm not surprised," Logan said. "All that time wrapped up in your heads … prolly hard to hear anything else." He got to his feet and booped Katie on the nose. "I'll be three doors down the hall. Clint can help you get there if you need to."

Katie nodded but made sure to give Logan a hug first. "No goin' far."

"Nope. Just my office." He gave her a little squeeze and started off, leaving Katie with Clint  _alone_ for the first time, since she wasn't done with her breakfast yet, and clearly Clint was already watching out for her. "Hey, Scotty, if you want a debrief about this, you'll have to talk to Carol and Matt."

"Nuh-uh," Katie giggled. "Me! Talk to me! I dunno Carol'n'Matt!"

"Right. And talk to Katie," Logan agreed. "She's the expert here."

"Uh-huh." Katie grinned and drew herself up.

Jean couldn't help but smile as she sat down by Katie — and Rachel helpfully tried to give Katie the toy she was finished playing with. "Where did you come from, sweetheart?"

Katie smiled at Jean and waved shyly. "I'm Katie. Me an' Susie got to ride in the Wolv-ner-veen car!"

"Logan said they were in trouble, so he brought 'em here," Clint put in helpfully.

Jean raised an eyebrow at that and shared a look with Scott before she simply peeked into Katie's memory of the whole thing so they could both learn what had happened. When she saw what had gone down, she let out a little noise and reached over to pull Katie into a hug. "You can stay here as long as you like, sweetheart."

Katie scrunched up her nose. "That's what Logan-Wolver-need said. Duh."

It was obvious Jean was only just holding back her laughter as she covered her mouth with one hand. "Oh yes. Of course."

"And Mom is helping too," Clint said. "So we got it."

"We got it," Katie echoed, beaming over at Clint, who grinned and helped her down from her seat too.

"We're gonna play with Arrow," he said. "And go to the barn to check on Mom and our big siblings, okay?"

Jean couldn't help but smile after them.  _Scott, he's bringing them home and adopting them in pairs._

_Pretty sure the first pair was K._

_Yes, but he married her so he could adopt them. It was a two-step process, but it still_ counts,  _Mr. Summers._

 _Oh, is that why they got married?_ Scott couldn't help but tease.

Jean reached over to hit him in the shoulder.  _You're being terrible._

Scott simply grinned and kissed her cheek.  _And you're jealous._

 _I am just pointing out that there's a pattern here_ —  _and no one else is even getting a chance to help the littlest kids before he scoops them all up!_

 _Well, to be fair, I think Susie is attached to Hank, not Logan,_ Scott said, trying to find a way to bring Jean around.

 _But she's being baited by horses._ Jean gave him a significant look as she pulled Rachel closer to snuggle and kissed the top of her head.

Scott let out a breath of a laugh at that.  _What, do you want me to try and bait one with the blackbird or something?_ he teased.  _I can't help that we weren't fighting Fisk last night. You know how he is when he thinks it's personal._

_It was personal, Scott. I might have peeked a little. And if history was any indicator, he should have been swamped with Hand ninjas last night, not … sweet little girls._

_Dumb luck._ Scott shook his head and then smirked and leaned over to steal a kiss.  _But if you really want more, you know…_

_Don't tempt me. Family man._

Scott grinned a little wider.  _Who's tempting who again? You're the one complaining that Logan's stealing the little ones!_

 _So you're saying … what exactly?_ Jean smirked at him. "What do  _you_ want?"

"Jean, if you have to ask, you're losing your touch."

"I just want you to admit it and say it out loud," she said. "Instead of putting it all on me."

Scott shook his head at her and then kissed her again. "Well, when do you want to start trying? Because I'm game."

She couldn't help but grin up at him. "Well... I hate for Rachel to be an only child for  _too_ long."

"Read my mind, Mrs. Summers."

* * *

Meanwhile, Clint had taken Katie outside to play for a while. Arrow always had fun with new people to play with, and Katie seemed to be totally in love with him, so Clint showed her where Arrow's favorite spot to be scratched was and that kind of thing.

She didn't look nearly as confused anymore, and Clint was starting to suspect why that was.

"My mom and dad are real sweet, huh?"

Katie glanced up at him. "What?"

"I mean, they love each other a lot. I got to see 'em get married, and they're real happy," Clint said. "And Scott and Jean are like that too. They're real lovey-dovey, even if they do most of it quiet."

Katie tipped her head to the side and then frowned a bit and shrugged her shoulders up. "Yeah."

"You can tell 'em to knock it off if it bothers you," Clint said.

Katie shook her head. "No," she said slowly. "I just… it's a lot."

"Yeah, I know," Clint said, plopping down in the grass beside her. "You okay?"

Katie started to nod and then seemed to think better of it, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes. "I want my mom," she said, and Clint was only slightly faster than Arrow coming over to snuggle her — so that she got a hug and a slobbery dog kiss.

Katie giggled and pet Arrow's head before she latched onto Clint. "My mom's gone, an' — an' my dad an' they din' kiss like that," she said, half hiding in Clint, who didn't really know what else to do except to hug her.

He didn't exactly blame her for being upset — he remembered how upset he was when he'd gone to a new home for the first time — but when she started to cry again, he tried something else: "Maybe we can help Susie and Barney with the horses, huh?"

Katie hiccoughed a little "uh-huh," and Clint helped her stand up, grabbing her hand to walk with her. He was sure she just needed hugs and something to do that wasn't thinking about her mom.

When they got there, it was clear the older kids were having a blast. Barney was grinning as he helped Susie get on one of the ponies, and K was supervising the whole thing with a quiet smile — until Katie utterly abandoned Clint to rush over to K and tug on her sleeve.

"Inna pony!"

"You do?" K said, turning toward her. "Do you want to take a ride on my horse?"

Katie's eyes were wide as she nodded along. "Uh-huh. Please!"

K smiled and made her way across to the barn, then pulled out a bright-white horse with a very long tail all braided up. She took a moment to put a rope on the halter, but instead of picking Katie up, she kissed at the horse and stepped back with one arm held out to her side as she faced him. The horse tossed his head and then tucked his chin to his chest and bowed low before he simply laid down. "You can climb on now if you want," K told her. "Just hold on to his hair … right here." She pointed to the hair at the very base of his mane.

Katie was wide-eyed as she followed K's instructions, and then she started to giggle madly. "This is fun!"

"Got a good grip?" K asked as she stood next to the still down horse and put her hand on Katie's back. When Katie nodded, K clicked to the horse, and he sat up, then stood up with a soft nicker. "Clint, you want to walk alongside her?"

Clint nodded. "I said I'd stick with her."

"I like Clint," Katie whispered to K.

"Is it because he's got such soft, fluffy duck fuzz hair?" K asked wide-eyed. "He likes it when you quack at him."

"M-o-o-o-o-om! No I don't!"

K grinned at Katie. "Quack, quack," she said, and Katie fell apart giggling.

"Don't teach her that!" Clint said.

"Try it Katie …  _quack quack_ ," K whispered as they started to walk out to the arena where Barney was still walking Susie around. K did the same, simply walking alongside the horse as Katie got to ride the big white horse — and Barney was no help at all by pointing out that Katie looked like she was on a knight's horse. Especially the way that Galahad had his chin tucked to his chest the whole time, almost prancing with every step.

"Inna be princess," Katie argued. "No knight!"

"Katie loves princesses," Susie put in.

"That's fine, Kate. The horse's name is Galahad — that was a knight," K said. "And knights carry princesses around, right?"

"That's right, Katie!" Susie said encouragingly.

"Okay." Katie smiled and nodded. "Princess Katie!"

"Mind if I ride with you for a few minutes, Katie? Galahad likes to show off," K said.

"Okay!" Katie sang out happily.

K smirked at that then dropped the rope and gave Galahad a command to stand still — and he did, chin tucked under, perfectly squared up as K walked around behind him then leap-frogged onto his back right behind Katie. "Alright. You know how I said he does tricks?" She pulled his head over to take the rope and lay it across his neck in front of Katie. "He does all of his tricks without any saddles or bridles on him. So …"

She made sure Katie was holding on solidly and then got Galahad going through his routine — high steps, marching and then trotting along, with Katie giggling madly and clutching to his mane. It was all fun and giggles until K had him trotting sideways and Katie simply fell to pieces laughing to the point K had to hold onto her to keep her from falling off.

When they were all done with the little ride, Galahad was huffing, and K kept a decent hold on Katie as she had him bow, touching his nose to the ground as he stretched out low. K hopped off and then offered to pick Katie up. "Nice job, Princess."

Katie grinned and threw her arms around K's neck. "That was fun!"

"Of course it was," K agreed. "And you did great."

"Yeah, Katie!" Susie said, beaming at her sister and running over to K. "I wanna learn how to do that stuff!"

"Well, stick around, sunshine," K said.

"Mom's teaching us how to shoot arrows on horseback!" Clint said, and Susie spun to face him with wide eyes.

" _Wow_."

"Inna do that!" Katie said, though she was getting tired from all the playing and was halfway snuggling into K.

"We have plenty of time to do all of that," K agreed before she handed the rope to Clint. "Can you boys put these two away? We can wait for a minute before we head up if you're fast."

"Okay," the boys said together, then grinned and rushed to do just that — as Susie tugged on K's sleeve.

"I like them," she whispered. "They're nice."

"They're good boys," K agreed. "And they take care of everyone they can."

"Barney was saying you saved his little brother," Susie said.

"We travelled together," K said, tipping her head. "He had a jerk following him. I stopped that."

Susie nodded and bit her lip. "Dad had a jerk," she said quietly.

K rested her hand between Susie's shoulders. "I'm sorry you had to deal with a jerk."

"Dad was scared of him," Susie said, her eyes wide as she whispered what she knew — some of which, of course, she'd already told Hank. "Really, really scared."

"Jerks are like that," K agreed, then offered Susie her hand. "I knew a jerk when I was little, too."

"You did?"

K nodded slowly. "I had an evil stepfather," she said in a quiet tone.

Susie looked over both shoulders before she leaned in. "My dad had evil guys over. Lots."

"That sounds really scary," K said, matching her tone.

Susie nodded. "Uh-huh. Dad said we weren't allowed when they came over, but  _I_ heard 'em talking about Mom."

K frowned at that. "What did they say about your mom?" she asked.

"Well …" Susie bit her lip. "I didn't understand a lots of it. They were speaking in, like, a code? I think? Mom's skinny; she's not 'broad'."

K nodded at that. "Yeah, really jerky guys sometimes call ladies broads," K told her.

"Oh." Susie blinked and then nodded. "So… so they said they were making a stage for a broad?"

"That … really doesn't sound very nice," K said, giving Susie's hand a little squeeze.

"I didn't think it did, but I didn't wanna ask," Susie said.

"Sweetheart, even if you're scared, you'll be smart if you follow what that little feeling is in the pit of your tummy," K told her. "Most of the time, if it feels scary or wrong … it's kind of your way to protect yourself."

Susie nodded. "I get real scared when those guys come."

"You don't need to worry about them while you're here," K promised.

"Are you sure?" Susie asked, glancing at Katie, who was still tiredly rubbing her eyes. "They… they came an' got me an' Katie…"

"Those guys won't come anywhere near Logan or his friends," K said in a soft rumble.

"Because he's scary too," Susie said.

"Only toward bad guys," K told her with a little smile. "He's a big squish for kids and ladies."

"I dunno," Susie said, one eye closed. "I like Hank."

"Oh, well. You can't go wrong with the real-life cookie monster," K said, nodding her head. "He's very snuggly."

"He was real nice and said I could stay here if I want," Susie said. "He said lots of kids stay here."

"They do," K agreed. "This is a place that takes a lot of kids that need homes. They give them a place to live and clothes to wear and teach them everything they need to know."

"But we got a home," Susie said softly.

"Do you have a grown-up to take care of you too?" K asked.

"Oh." Susie looked between K and Katie. "Um. No. Mom… Mom died, and Dad…"

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," K said in a low rumble.

Susie nodded, and then her lip trembled and she darted forward to hug K tightly and start to cry — just as the boys finished up and got there in time to look worried.

"What's wrong?" Clint asked.

"She was just thinking about her parents," K admitted, holding Susie close one-handed.

"Oh." Clint let his shoulders drop, and Barney nodded grimly.

"It sucks sometimes," Barney said.

"The boys were orphans," K told Susie. "That means their original parents are gone."

Susie picked her head up to look at the Barton boys and then sniffled. "That's really sad."

"Yeah, well…" Barney shrugged. "We did okay. And we got adopted, and we have Logan and K for parents now, so we're good."

"They did amazing," K said, smirking at Barney. "And we have fun now."

"And Barney is gonna run a circus when he grows up," Clint said. "He'll be the ringmaster!"

"Clint's exaggerating," Barney said.

"Nuh-uh. Paul said you'd be good at it and you could do it while he's bein' a dad 'cause Miranda  _li-i-i-ikes_ when Paul says stuff like that," Clint said, then made a face K's way. "She's weird."

"Barney spends his summer with a circus," K explained to Susie. "And then he comes to school in the fall."

"Like a summer camp?" Susie asked. "Mom signed me up for one last year because I'm big enough now!"

"It's … a lot longer than a regular camp," K said. "And he's a weapon's master  _in_ the circus. He runs away to perform every year."

"I don't  _run away_ ," Barney said, shaking his head at K.

"He does. He gets tired of me fussing over his hair and has to run away."

"At least you're not as ridiculous with me as you are with Clint," Barney said with a smirk.

"Wait until I drop you off in a few months," K warned. "I'm just  _waiting_ to see that little girl … trapeze?"

"Ana," Barney said, turning a brilliant red.

"Yeah, Ana," K agreed. "She needs someone to give her  _the look_."

"Oh no," Barney said at the same time Clint said, "Oooh, yes!"

"She needs someone to warn her that there  _will_ be surprise stop-ins through the season," K said. "Just in case she decides to kiss you too much."

"Please don't," Barney said, looking mortified — though Susie was giggling and Clint was practically cackling.

"Oh, you want Logan to do it instead?" K asked innocently.

"That's  _worse_."

"What about if it was Jean?" K asked. "I'm sure she'd do it, too."

"Jean would want to know if we were getting  _married_ ," Barney said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay," K said, nodding. "Jean for  _sure,_ then. Scott can stand behind her with that whole … very serious look."

"Mom, no," Barney groaned.

"Mom, yes," Clint said, and burst out laughing even harder, clutching his stomach when Barney looked positively betrayed.

K smiled at the boys' antics and then looked down at Susie, who was watching the Barton boys carefully — but slowly starting to smile, too. "What do you think we should do for dinner, Susie?"

Susie giggled and looked up at K. "Oh, can we have Italian? I like the long noodles and stuff."

"Yep," K agreed. "We can do that. It's been a while since we did that, right, boys?"

"Mom makes really good spaghetti," Clint said, though he was wiping tears from his eyes still.

K tipped her head to look at Katie. "Do you want to watch cartoons and snuggle with Arrow?"

Katie nodded tiredly. "Uh-huh. Inna watch Looney Tunes."

"You can use Logan's pillow, to get comfy," K offered.

"Inna use Logan- _pillow_."

"Logan's teaching," K said.

"It's like when Daddy works," Susie said helpfully.

"Oh." Katie frowned and hid her face in K's shoulder. "I don' wike it."

"I don't know what your dad did when he worked, but we can go peek into Logan's class," K said. "He's teaching older kids how to be heroes."

"Okay," Katie said, then paused. "After Looney Tunes."

"You got it, Princess Katie," K agreed, then carried her up to the suite.


	4. Fairy Godfather in Bright Red Spandex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Matt Murdock looks into the girls he helped Wolverine rescue.

 

* * *

While the girls were settling in and trying to get used to their new surroundings — and all of the people in it, who were a lot kinder and more affectionate than either of the girls was used to seeing — Matt Murdock had been busy.

It wasn't hard to track down the girls' background. The name "Bishop" and the girls' first names were way more information than he really needed, and it took him no time at all to figure out that the girls belonged to the Bishop Publishing family.

It was a pretty obvious target for Fisk. The company had been growing over the past decade, crossing the billion mark two years ago. Not to mention Bishop had been trying his hand as an amateur real estate developer. He was just starting out in the business, so it wasn't as lucrative as his company, but still… all told, those girls were set to inherit a fortune.

He shook his head to himself when he heard it. First things first: he had to make sure that no one in Fisk's organization tried to get their hands on any of that money. Then, he needed to let Logan — or whoever it was in Westchester that was taking responsibility for those girls — know that he needed to set up a trust fund for both of the girls. No reason for any of the lowlifes that had kidnapped them and killed their dad to  _profit_ from it.

Problem was, the girls didn't have any family left, and Matt didn't know which of the adults in Westchester needed to be named guardian. So, he packed up the necessary paperwork and headed to Westchester.

When he got there, it wasn't hard to find the girls. Or one of them, anyway. The youngest, Katie, was outside playing with Clint and Lucky and generally having a blast, giggling and and laughing the whole time. Logan was there too — if only because Katie was still unsure about the new place and really did  _not_ like being apart from him. So once classes were over, she was stuck like glue once again.

"Kinda out of your usual path, isn't it, Murdock?" Logan asked before Matt could get all the way to them.

"Had to check on you and see how things were going," Matt said with a smirk as Katie's ears pricked up. She could sort of place his voice, but she didn't recognize him without the costume. "Did a little digging."

"What'd you find?" Logan asked. "Good news, I hope."

Matt tipped his head to the side and then motioned for Logan to join him —  _away_ from little ears. He took a second to make sure the kids were still distracted before he told Logan, "Those girls don't have any family left. Their dad was the last one."

"Well, that's not what I was hopin' to hear," Logan admitted, since in any case, he had already felt responsible for Derek Bishop's death. Now … that was just that much worse.

"It gets more interesting," Matt said.

"Oh great."

"Yeah. They're worth about a billion between them. So you can imagine what that's going to do when word gets around."

"Explains why Fisk had his panties twisted up so damn tight."

Matt nodded. "I'm already working on the legal side of things to set aside anything that wasn't already redlined and sent to Fisk

Logan nodded at that. "You're already talkin' over my head, Murdock. What do you need?"

Matt smirked. "I just need to know who in this school is guardian and executor. Those girls are worth a lot to someone looking to steal a fortune."

"Oh," Logan said, glancing over to Katie. "I dunno. Anyone you pick'll have a target on them. Not that it'd deter anyone here."

"I'm not here to pick someone. I've known them for, what, a few minutes?" Matt shook his head. "You're the ones watching out for them. Whoever wants to make that leap, I'll arrange guardianship, adoption, whatever, but they need to know what's coming after those girls."

"You tell anyone at the house?" Logan asked.

"Heard you first."

"From who?"

Matt laughed. "No, I literally heard you first. Coming up the drive. It wasn't rocket science."

"Well, I doubt I'm an authority on this one," Logan said. "But if we go by how things went with the boys, they oughta pick for themselves."

"Sounds fair to me," Matt said with a shrug, then paused and smirked. "So long as they don't pick me. That would be a disaster."

"I dunno," Logan said. "You look like you could use a couple little girls runnin' a racket on you."

Matt laughed and held up his hands. "No, no. Find someone else."

"Hey, it's up to them, Murdock. Can't turn down a kid like this. I'd be sure Cage heard about it, and you'd never live it down."

"You're enjoying that whole idea way too much."

"Damn right I am."

Matt shook his head. "Alright. Well. Where's Susie? Might as well ask both of them."

Logan turned his head and raised his voice. "Hey Katie, where's your sister?"

"Buggin' Dr. Blue!" Katie sang back happily.

"You wanna go get 'er?"

"Okay!" Katie grabbed Clint by the hand. "Is your friend a 'Venger too? Is he comin' to meet Susie like Cap'n Marvel wantsta?"

"He wantsta meet Carol too," Logan said. "We'll meet you up in the living room."

"Okay!" Katie sang out again, already pulling Clint along with her, which had Matt chuckling.

"Already running your kids into the ground for you, huh?"

"They like it," Logan said. "Let's 'em sleep better."

Matt smirked. "What's that?"

"No idea," Logan laughed as he took his time walking up with Matt.

By the time the two men got there, Katie had managed to wrangle Susie up the stairs, though while the girls were talking, Clint rushed over to Logan, wide-eyed. "What's going on?" he asked. "Are they going away?"

"No," Logan said, shaking his head. "They're not goin' anywhere. We're just tryin' to figure out who  _they_ want to keep an eye on 'em."

"Oh." Clint looked over at the girls. "Well… okay. Katie's kinda small, though. She doesn't even know all the names yet. So it would be kinda hard for her to pick."

"We're not going to rush them into anything permanent," Matt promised. "Just a guardian. That's all right now."

Clint seemed to relax a little. "Oh, good." He spun to face Logan, looking like he was working on his puppy dog eyes, even though he was grinning too much to pull it off properly. "Then they can stay with us, right Dad?"

"Up to them," Logan said. "I'm not gonna make anyone be where they don't wanna."

Clint nodded at that and rushed back over to the girls, who were now watching the others carefully. "D'youwannastaywithus?" he blurted out.

Susie wrinkled her nose at him. "What're you  _saying_?"

Clint took a breath and tried to calm down enough to talk to them properly — even if he was  _way_ excited about having even more people in his family. "They wanna know who you guys wanna stay with."

"Like a nanny?" Susie asked, which had Matt snickering.

Clint giggled too. "No, like… like a foster mom or dad. Someone who does the mom and dad stuff."

"I don'  _wanna_ new mom an' dad," Katie cut in, her arms crossed over her chest. "Don'  _wanna_."

"Well you're not old enough to drive and get a job, so you gotta pick someone," Logan told her.

"But I wanna stay wit'  _Logan-Wolf-na-dine!"_

"But  _I_ wanna stay with Dr. Blue!" Susie said. "I don't  _wanna_ stay with Wolverine!"

"Seeing as both of them live here, I think that's still doable," Matt said. "You can spend your time together anyhow." He turned to Logan. "And if Hank's alright with that, I can work up a clause that names someone else, too — just in case."

"Works for me," Logan said. "K won't mind. She was already givin' me a hard time about it."

"So… so we  _both_ get to pick?" Susie asked, looking between the two men like she wasn't entirely sure.

"If that's what you want, yeah," Logan said. "No one's gonna force either of you. The boys got to pick too."

Katie looked over at Clint, who was nodding seriously. "Uh-huh. Barney picked the circus, but he let Mom and Dad adopt 'im so we could stick together even if he still leaves."

"O...kay," Susie said, though Katie was a lot more enthusiastic as she ran over to Logan and held her hands up to be picked up.

"Yay Wolferdeed!"

"You know, kiddo, 'Logan' works just fine."

"Oooh, right. Logan Wolferdeed!"

"Close enough," Logan said, shaking his head.

"Hey, she saw you in the cowl first," Matt said, smirking  _hard_ and not even bothering to hide how entertained he was

"Most people do," Logan countered. "And I'm not the only one."

"Don't think they've made that connection."

"Not yet," Logan said, though it was clear he wasn't going to bust him out.

"So we should make sure Katie gets her own bed an' stuff," Clint cut in. "Cuz she's a  _girl_."

"Oh yeah," Logan agreed. "With room for Susie to sleep over when she wants."

"Bunk beds!" Clint said, nodding and bouncing in place.

Susie scrunched up her nose. "But… I … I said Dr. Blue?"

"And you can have him," Logan told her. "But I'm not gonna keep you from your sister."

"I'm… not so sure about this," Susie said, looking between Logan and Matt.

"You wanna talk to K about it?" Logan asked. "I know you like how she explains things better."

Susie nodded quietly. "Uh-huh."

Logan gestured toward the door. "She's in the barn. You know she'll talk to you any time."

Susie looked toward the door and then pointed a finger Logan's way. "Okay, but ... but no goin' nowhere or taking Katie!"

"Don't worry. I'll be here," Logan promised.

Susie glared at him for a moment longer and then nodded to herself before she rushed out to the barn, wide-eyed and worried until she did find K and then attached to K's side, trying to catch her breath.

"Did something bad happen?" K asked, putting an arm around Susie. "Do I need to beat someone up?"

Susie shook her head, still trying to catch her breath. "I… me and Katie… we're s'posed to  _pick,_ " she said urgently.

"What are you picking?"

"People for taking care!" Susie said.

"Oh, well that should be easy enough," K said. "Just pick the ones you like tucking you in at night."

"Well,  _I_ said Dr. Blue and  _Katie_ said Logan," Susie said, again with that tone of urgency.

K smirked at that. "That shouldn't be bad, though," K said. "They both live here, and we're not moving away."

"Yeah, but… but … no one's mad?" Susie looked completely lost.

"Why would they be mad?" K asked before she crouched down next to her, leaving Susie a little taller. "Everyone here wants you both to be happy and to grow up strong and smart."

"Nuh-uh." Susie shook her head. "Nuh-uh. Daddy  _always_ gotted mad when Mom tooked us places!"

"Well that's just  _silly_ ," K said. "Do you think that Captain Marvel didn't get to do things and be strong and proud and smart when she was little?"

"Well… no…."

"Then why would anyone in a house full of heroes be mad about you being smart and strong and brave  _like you are_?"

"Well… I dunno." Susie scuffed one foot against the other. "Sometimes grownups're mad."

"I can't think of a good reason for a grown up to get mad at a kid for being amazing."

"Okay." Susie looked up at K. "So… so is it okay that I wanna stay with Dr. Blue?"

"Of course it is," K replied. "Why? Did Logan get mad?"

'"No," Susie admitted. "He just… kinda… said to find you."

"He knows you don't like him all that much," K said. "And he's not mad about that either."

"He's  _really_ scary," Susie whispered. "I saw him fighting people, and there was blood and stuff."

"Yeah. He does that sometimes. But only when the bad guys are  _really_ bad." She let her voice drop to a whisper. "He's not the only one either. I do that too, you know."

"Nuh-uh!" Susie stared, wide-eyed, at K. "You're too nice!"

"Only to sweet little kids," K replied. "I have all the same powers Logan does. You can ask Barney or Clint. They'll tell you: it's all about keeping people safe."

"Oh. Okay." Susie bit her lip. "Dr. Blue ... Dr. Blue says he's on a team that helps people too."

"Yeah, he's on the X-Men and the Avengers," K said.

"He helps people with owies."

"And he helps fight bad guys, too."

Susie smiled. "Everybody here does. Barney says his little brother is gonna do that too."

"He plans to join both teams when he's older," K said.

"I bet he could," Susie said. "Barney says he's really, really good." Susie giggled. "I like Barney. He's nice."

K rested her hand on Susie's head. "He is. So … do you want to go talk to Dr. Cookie Monster and see what he's got to say?"

"Uh-huh. Will you come?"

"Sure will," K said, then when she stood upright, she took just a moment to finish up a few little chores and then offered Susie her hand. "Lead the way."

Susie smiled and then took K's hand, heading down to where Hank was just curled up with a good book and relaxing, though he smiled when the two of them came in — even if Susie turned suddenly nervous and then hid behind K's leg.

"So," K said, when she saw how anxious Susie was. "Matt Murdock is upstairs." She tapped the side of her nose and gave him a little smile. "And Susie tells me she and Katie are picking new guardians. Right, Susie?"

"Uh-huh," Susie said shyly.

Hank smiled at that. "It sounds wonderful. Have you made up your mind, then?"

Susie nodded quietly. "I… I wanna stay with you."

"And Katie's picked Logan," K added. "Susie is a little stressed out worrying that something bad might happen if you both keep them."

Hank shook his head and set his book aside before he came to crouch in front of Susie. "There's nothing to be stressed about. I'd be absolutely honored to take you in."

"Even if Katie doesn't come?"

"Even if Katie doesn't come," Hank agreed, which prompted Susie to rush over and hug Hank tightly, sniffling and clutching his fur tightly.

Hank smiled and then picked Susie up and looked to K. "Well then. You said Matt Murdock was here?"

"When we slipped around them, it sounded like he and Logan were taking the mickey out of each other."

"Ah, so nothing new to report," Hank chuckled.

"No, not at all," K agreed, leading the way and holding the doors open for Hank and Susie — who were in a serious snuggle. When they got upstairs, Matt and hank were shoulder to shoulder watching and listening respectively as Katie and Clint tried to replicate a circus move that Barney was trying to coach them through. Even though they had the balancing part of it down, Katie's wide-eyed expression and maniacal laughter was doing her in.

"Whatcha doing?" Susie asked, barely picking her head up from Hank.

"Learnin' to be circus monkeys," Logan said.

"They're pretty good," Barney laughed.

"Didja talk to Dr. Blue and get it all figured out?" Clint asked, looking up at Susie after Katie had collapsed on him again in another fit of giggles.

"Uh-huh," Susie said, snuggling into Hank a little more.

"All ready for you, Matthew," K said as she passed him by and squeezed his arm.

Matt smiled and nodded at that. "If everyone's in agreement, I just need you three to fill out a few things."

"You can forge my name," Logan teased.

Matt chuckled. "Come on, Wolverneed."

"Can you boys play with Katie and Susie for a few minutes while we go deal with some grown up stuff?" K asked Clint and Barney. "Ten bucks if you can  _not_ spill the beans to the Summerseseseses."

"That's a  _loooot_ of 'es's, Mom," Clint giggled. "And Jean might cheat! That's not fair!"

"Tell Jean if she cheats, I'll teach her baby to swear."

Clint giggled. "In Swedish?"

"Nope. English," K said. "And it won't be a little one either."

"Swedish is more fun."

"I dunno Swedish," Susie said. "I only know English and Korean."

"Logan does Japanese and a whole freakin' laundry list as long as your arm," K said. "But if you want to learn some Swedish, I'll teach you."

"Okay," Susie said before she and Katie skipped off with the boys, while the grownups got things arranged for them.


	5. Not-So-Smooth Transition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Katie and Susie are still having a little trouble adjusting to the new family.

 

It had been a busy day, and Katie was definitely happy about getting to stay with Logan and K. But she wasn't so sure about a room all to herself just yet, so she had fallen asleep on Logan again, and he transferred her to the bed once she was out, leaving the door open so she could see where he and K were.

Which was a good move, since halfway through the night, Logan and K both woke up to a very little girl positively  _screaming_.

Logan was there in a heartbeat, before the boys had even sat up in their beds all the way. "Easy, lil' darlin'. You're not alone."

Katie was still crying too hard to stop, and she shoved Logan away with both hands. "I  _want my dad_!"

"He's not here, Katie," Logan told her, keeping his tone even and low.

"I want my mom!" she insisted.

"I can't find her," he replied.

Katie's lip trembled, and she pulled her blankets up to her chin. "I don't  _wanna_ go wit' the mount'n man!"

Logan frowned at that for a moment and nodded. "You don't have to even look at that guy ever again if you don't want to," he told her.

"I don' wanna," Katie said, starting to sniffle some more. "I wanna go home. I want my mom."

"If I could find her, you'd be with her right now," Logan swore, though he didn't move any closer — trying to give her a little space to process all of it.

Katie scrubbed her hand over her eyes. "I… I miss my mom."

"I know, Katie," Logan said, still in that easy tone. "And that's okay."

Katie nodded and then finally crawled over to Logan and latched on. "I wanna go home," she sniffled.

Logan was sure to wrap her up as warmly as he knew how, though he didn't really have a decent response other than trying again to tell her she was safe.

By that time, the boys had poked their heads in and were watching the whole thing, and once Katie had stopped being loud and was just crying on Logan, Clint offered, "If you wanna sleep over in our room, you can. Even if you're a girl."

Katie looked up over Logan's shoulder and sniffled. "Really?"

Clint nodded. "Uh-huh. And Mom and Dad'll take really good care of you, okay?"

"It's okay to be sad," Barney put in. "Clint used to cry a lot when we did foster stuff too. Cuz he was little like you."

"Not  _a lot_ , Barn," Clint said, rolling his eyes.

"Uh-huh. Sure."

"It's alright to cry over losing your parents," Logan said. "Anyone that says they didn't is lying to you."

"Well, I only cried over  _Mom_ ," Barney insisted with his chin stuck out.

Katie sniffed. "You cwy?"

Barney glanced between Katie, Clint, and Logan and then shrugged. "Yeah. Well. So I did. It's no big deal. Me and Clint are doing a lot better now."

Katie nodded quietly. "I… I wanna stay with Clint," she said. "Can I? Pwease?"

"Of course you can," Logan said as he picked her up to carry her there. "Grab her pillow, Clint."

Clint nodded and ran to go get it — along with some of the stuffed animals Jean had gotten for Katie. So by the time he got back to their room, Katie was still holding onto Logan's shirt… but she was considering the room and slowly letting go.

"You gonna be okay in here?" Logan asked.

Katie nodded quietly. "Uh-huh."

Logan gave her a little smile and waited for both her and Clint to settle in before he pulled the blanket up to her chin. "Let me know if you need anything. I'll be back if you call."

"Thanks, Logan-Woolerveen."

For a moment, Logan simply let out a breath, though he knew it wasn't the time to correct her. Again. "Good night, troublemakers." He turned around, still shaking his head as he left them alone, sure the boys would handle it.

The next morning, it was pretty obvious Katie was still a little off, since she absolutely  _refused_ to get out of Logan's lap for breakfast and was generally just sticking close — which was, of course, when Carol and Steve showed up.

"Well, that's new," Steve said — even as Susie let out a dramatic gasp and started dancing in place when she saw Carol.

"Yeah, yeah," Logan said. "I'll be by for cards as soon as I can. Been busy."

"Clearly," Steve said.

"Shut up, Rogers."

"Which one is Susie?" Carol asked, smiling between the two girls — which prompted Susie to run right up to her and  _stare_ up at her. "Is Logan treating you okay?"

Susie nodded. "Uh-huh. And Dr. Blue!"

"You two should grab some coffee," K said to both of the visiting Avengers. "You both look like you've been up all night." She paused and smirked. "Unless … there's a reason."

Carol and Steve both cut her a dry look, though Carol said, "Actually, early morning."

"Oh Captain, my captain?" K teased.

"Not my type," Carol shot back without missing a beat.

Steve shook his head at both of them. "Zemo's been harassing the Avengers," he explained.

"Not surprised, are you?" Logan said.

"No, but we're pretty sure we found where he's holed up," Steve said. "Probably a trap, but it's the first lead we've had on his base in a month."

"Better'n nothin'," Logan agreed. "So. When're we leaving?"

"Um." Carol tipped her head toward Logan. "I'm pretty sure there's a height limit on this mission."

"Then you're here for Scott?" K asked. "Small racist …"

"We  _were_ here to ask Logan to come, but…" Steve gestured between Katie and Logan. "Never mind."

"You could take his place," Carol said with a smile K's way. "With Jan on the team, that means we outnumber Tony and Steve for this run."

"Oh, that sounds fun," K said. "What do you need done?"

"If it was just muscle, we wouldn't be so picky, but we really need someone who can scent out a few traps —  _and_ tell us what we're looking at before we go in and spring said trap."

"Bonus points for the fact that their side doesn't know what I can do," K pointed out.

Clint grinned when he heard it. "Mom'll kick their trash," he told Carol confidently.

"When are you leaving?" K asked.

"Soon as we grab Hank," Steve said. "Zemo's been playing with some nasty chemicals. I could use him on this too."

"And notify Scott," K said, nodding. "You know how he gets …"

Steve smirked K's way. "Oh no. I guess I'll just have to talk to him. And if his little girl just  _happens_ to be there…"

"Oh. She happens," K said, shooing him with one hand.

"Then I guess we're leaving in an hour," Carol laughed as she followed Steve out. "I haven't met the redheaded angel Jan's been talking about, but apparently, she hung the moon."

"She did for them," K said, resting a hand on Clint's head.

Clint grinned up at K as the two Avengers headed out. "You're gonna do so good, Mom."

"Yeah, duh. Because she's  _Mom_ ," Barney said with a smirk.

But while the boys were more than enthusiastic about this turn of events, not everyone was on baord. "You're not going after Hydra," Logan said in a flat tone.

"Sure I am," K said. "You heard them. They need a nose. That's all. It won't be a big deal."

"It's more than likely a trap," Logan shot back, and it was clear from his tone he wasn't happy at all.

K turned his way slowly, eyes narrowed for a moment. "Then you should be happy your friends are putting together such a decent team." She let the growl slip out a little — matching Logan's. "I'm going. If you want to get over yourself, you can come give me a kiss after I get changed." She held his gaze for a long moment before she set her mug down and started to head off to do exactly that.

Clint was already telling Barney how awesome K was going to be with the Avengers, but both of the Bishop girls were watching Logan. Even Katie had stopped snuggling him and was almost… holding her breath.

It only took Logan a few moments, though, to take a few deep, slow breaths and then nod his head. "Alright. You girls wanna give her a good luck hug?"

"Um… okay," Katie said, though she was still watching Logan.

Logan got to his feet and let out a shrill whistle for the boys. "You too. Likely gonna be a few days if nothing goes wrong." He turned to Katie with a serious look. "But if it does go wrong, you're gonna have to hang out with the Summerses while I go get 'em outta trouble."

"Nuh-uh. Mom'll handle it," Clint said confidently. "She's the best in the world!"

"It's called a contingency," Logan said as he started carrying Katie with him to go see K.

"Okay, but you don't need it," Clint said as the kids started to follow Logan.

Logan gave him a little look that was honestly unamused. "You know, if it was anyone else, I'd be takin' bets. But I won't bet against her."

"But you don't want her to go," Susie pointed out — very quietly.

"No, I don't," Logan agreed. "But they need her to help 'em, and I'm not gonna be mad at her because they need her." He looked her way. "Even if I'd rather be with her for it."

Susie frowned for a long time as she thought about it. "I… I can watch Katie."

"She knows what she's doin'," Logan said. "They'll have no one to blame but themselves if they tick her off."

"Okay." Susie bit her lip. "Are you  _sure_ you're not mad?"

"Logan ain't ever gonna yell at you or Mom," Barney broke in, guessing what had the two Bishop girls nervous — and obviously right, if the girls' surprised reactions were anything to go by. "That's not how this family does things."

"Yeah, I'm a little mad," Logan admitted. "But I'll be fine."

"Are you gonna be mad later?" Susie asked, her head tipped to the side.

"No," Logan said. "I'm mad at the timing. Not at her."

"Oh." Susie bit her lip. "Are you mad at me an' Katie?" she asked, even quieter.

"Why would I be mad at you and Katie?" Logan asked with a deep frown. "I'm mad at Hydra for bein' a pain."

"Hydra's the bad guys," Clint put in helpfully. "They're  _really_ bad. They're so bad that Captain America had to fight them in World War II  _and_ now!"

"Thas bad," Katie said, staring at Clint with wide eyes.

Clint grinned up at her. "After we give Mom hugs, you and me can play 'stop Hydra', okay? We can pretend we're fighting Red Skull!"

Katie giggled and nodded. "Okay."

When they got up to the suite, K was pulling on her boots — already changed into the uniform Jan had designed for her — though she didn't look like she was expecting the group.

"We came for hugs," Susie informed her. "Because Logan's not mad."

'He's smart like that," K said with a little smirk as Clint led the charge for hugs. "You can run this place, right?" K asked him as she wrapped him up in a bear hug.

"Oh yeah," Clint promised. "I'll take good care of my new foster sister and also Dad."

"Attaboy," K said, then gave him a big kiss on the forehead and messed up his hair. "Love you, punkin'."

Clint laughed and smoothed down his hair. "Love you, Mom."

Barney stepped in once Clint had his turn and made sure to wish K luck, and then Susie gave K a very shy hug — but Katie stayed with Logan and hung on with one hand to his shirt and hugged K's neck with her other arm.

Once the kids had their turn, Logan gave her a crooked sort of smile and pulled her into a long and very involved kiss. "If you're not back in a few days, I'm coming after you," he said.

"Yes. Good," K agreed and stole another little kiss. "Gotta remind Steve and Tony who's in charge."

"It's Mom. Mom's in charge," Clint stage whispered.

Both Logan and K looked over to him with a little smirk — and Logan did his best to get Clint to complain when he stole another long kiss. "Alright. Go kill Hydra," Logan said. "Lord knows Cap can't do it alone."

"When you get back, you can tell us stories about how you kicked their butts," Barney said. "Make sure you get back fast, 'cause I only got a month before circus season!"

"She'll be back before then," Logan said, frowning his way.

"Just sayin'," Barney said.

"Yeah, I know what you're just sayin'," Logan said, then took a hold of K's hand and started to walk with her down to where Carol was waiting — though he was sure to fill her in on all the crap he knew Hydra had been pulling lately so she'd be ready for it.

"It's okay," Susie said, tugging on Logan's sleeve. "She's gonna be with Cap'n Marvel. So she'll be okay. Okay?"

"Pretty sure you got it the other way around, kiddo," Logan said with a tiny smirk. "Carol should be okay with her keepin' an eye out."

"Okay, if you say so," Susie said with a shrug.

After another kiss — that had Carol clearing her throat — the little group headed out. And the Quinjet had barely taken off before Logan turned toward the kids. "Alright. Just us an' half the damn house for a few days."

"Yep!" Katie smiled. "We're gonna play 'get Hydra'. You can play!"

"I've fought Hydra enough for real," Logan said. "You go ahead."

"Okay. Imma play with Clint," Katie said, then stuck her finger in Logan's face. "You gotta come find me. No leavin'!"

"If I go, it won't be far, and it won't be dangerous," Logan said.

"Okie doke!" Katie said cheerfully as Logan let her down and she rushed off with Clint.

Logan watched them leave then turned to Barney and Susie. "You plannin' on stayin' with Katie while big Blue's out fightin'?"

Susie nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Then you get to pick the movie later," Logan said. "Barney'll help."

"We can look and see what we got," Barney said.

Susie nodded quickly. "Uh-huh. Thanks, Barney."

Barney shrugged. "No problem," he said — completely missing that Susie was giggling and blushing, considering he was a teenager focused on Kitty and didn't even have kiddie crushes on the brain.

And Logan turned to head for the ready room to do a little digging — just to see if he could find something that Steve's team hadn't. Which just so happened to put him in Jean's path as she was following a very independent Rachel walking around and exploring the mansion on her own.

"Oh, where's Katie?" Jean asked with a smile. "Rachel was asking for her."

"With Clint," Logan muttered.

"Well, we'll find her," Jean said. "The girls have been sharing toys, but I really think we should get more that are just Katie and Susie's…" She scooped Rachel up as the little girl fell backwards on her bum. "I always thought we'd be handing down, but you went and got  _older_ girls to hand down to us!"

Logan thought about it for a moment as he turned and watched the two of them for a moment. "Yeah… that's probably a good idea."

"Well, what did they have back home? Katie was telling me about her teddy yesterday…"

"I dunno," Logan said. "But I could probably go an'  _see_."

"Field trip — or can I steal your girls?" Jean asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"You take the girls for now," Logan said. "I don't know what kind of mess I might find there once I get there."

"Right. I did hear about that. Hank was a little thrown off by the guardianship  _and_ the whole… trust fund…" Jean shook her head. "It's not our usual fare."

Logan shrugged at that. "It happens," he said.

"Oh, I know. But I swear, Logan, you and K don't do anything easy, do you? You decide you need girls, so you find some with a high-dollar price tag so you get your trouble  _too_?" she teased.

He gave her a glare for that one. "You know, Red, you're really not funny." He started toward the garage. "But now I feel like I gotta go see what the princesses might be missin' from home."

"Well, you know I'll always babysit. I love the boys  _and_ your girls, so just… go ahead!"

"Technically, Jeannie, only one of 'em wants me. The other one's Hank's."

"She's sleeping over with you, isn't she?" Jean said brightly as Rachel leaned over and grabbed some of Jean's hair, which prompted a small tug of war before Jean got her hair back.

"Cause Hank's gone," Logan said.

Jean smiled Logan's way. "Well, anyway. Let me know what you find."


	6. Bad Move, Bro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Logan gets to see firsthand what the girls are facing.

 

* * *

Logan took his time getting to the Bishop home — and he was careful to park several blocks away from the house before he walked down to it, keeping out of sight and in the margins so he could watch the place before he made a move to break in.

It really didn't look like there was any reason to be concerned. The traffic in the area was understandably light, and no one seemed to give the Bishop house more than a passing glance, if that. So, based on some light surveillance, Logan started forward and snaked around the property to break in through the back. The security system was fairly impressive for what Logan was expecting, but none of it was beyond what he could get past, so he was quick to get in all the same. And from there, it was just a matter of cautiously going from room to room.

The girls' bedrooms were next to each other, obviously decorated to their styles. Susan's room had plenty of pink, frilly things, lots of princess-y decorations. The prize possession, though, had to be her well-used set of books, all of which were cute little stories about girls with horses. Those were on the table next to her bed, the pages all bent up from how many times she'd read the short little stories.

Katie's room was a little harder to place as to what was important, since the kid seemed to be a tornado of activity. Toys were everywhere, and so were her drawings, carefully-done squiggles of crayon and fingerpaint. And considering most of that fingerpaint had made its way to a couple stuffed animals — a purple bear and a blue monkey — those had to be her favorites.

He made sure to grab those as well as a few pictures — family photos of all four of the Bishops in particular, though he only found three of those, and all three were in the girls' rooms, not on display in the main areas. The rest were individual pictures of the girls or Derek.

Which was all well and good until Logan heard someone trying (and failing) to be quiet as they snuck into one of the girls' rooms — Susan's, at the end of the hall.

Logan tipped his head at that and found a little hollow to tuck himself into for a moment to listen, though when the bumbling idiots only got louder, he set the bag down and stepped closer to see what, exactly, was going on.

The men in Susan's room were wearing the same tracksuits as several of the men that had been there at Fisk and Bishop's meeting before, and they were obviously looking for something, peeking in the closet and under the bed.

It didn't make a bit of sense to Logan, so he did the one thing that seemed to be the least dramatic move he could come up with — and simply crossed his arms and leaned in the doorway, waiting for them to realize he was there.

There were so intent on what they were doing that it took a minute, but finally, one of them looked up to talk to the others. "She not here, bro," he said in a heavily accented voice. "Maybe we—" He froze when he saw Logan.

"Who's not here?" Logan asked, tipping his chin up.

The others were starting to take notice that there was a problem as well, and several of them were already reaching for their guns. "What are you? Butler?" one of them asked.

"Not fancy enough, bro," another one put in. "Janitor, maybe."

"Unless you're lookin' for toy horses, you're in the wrong damn place," Logan said.

"Hey, bro, we cut you in," one of them said. "Bishop got killed anyway. Better gig with us, yeah?"

"I don't think so," Logan said, shaking his head. "Who the hell are you anyway?"

"We work for business partner of Bishop, yeah?" one of the tracksuits said. "Much better than books. We do rent. Houses. Apartments. Is good business, yeah?"

Logan frowned at that. "So what the hell're you doin' here?"

"We have deal with Bishop," one of the guys said.

"And since Bishop is dead, we no have the money. So, we find it other way," the other one said. "It goes to girls, yes?"

Logan shrugged one shoulder up, still looking as non-threatening as he could. "Yeah, I suppose that's what the lawyer said."

"Yes, exactly," the first one said. "So, we get girl, we get money. Easy! You can join too!"

Logan shook his head. "You're not gettin' the girls. And you're not touchin' their money."

The tracksuits glanced at each other, losing their friendlier expressions. "And you think you stop us, bro? You are by yourself. We have whole vans full."

"Yep." Logan nodded. "By my count, you're outnumbered."

"Um. No?" One of the tracksuits shook his head. "Is not how counting works."

Logan smirked. "Don't seem fair, does it?"

"Not for you, maybe," one of the guys said as he raised his gun.

Logan didn't move — and he didn't look as if the gun was any kind of concern. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He kicked away from the doorframe and unfolded his arms. "I'll get a little cranky if I gotta pick bullets out later."

"You crazy, bro," the tracksuit said — and then pulled the trigger.

Logan simply started to growl at that though, and when he met the guy's gaze, it was as he popped his claws and dove at him. He vaguely heard the sound of more gunfire as he attacked, and he really didn't hold back much, going for clean efficiency for most of them … though the last one was a sad little standoff with the tracksuited idiot shakily holding his gun toward Logan as Logan growled low and rumbling. He was trying to decide if the guy was stupid enough to pull the trigger — especially since it didn't  _look_ as if he'd shot the gun yet. "Put the safety on and you live," Logan told him.

The guy was still shaking like a leaf as he raised his hand and quickly did just that. "No claws, bro," he breathed out. "We good."

"Get out," Logan growled out. "Don't look for those girls again."

"No problem, bro," the guy agreed, looking like he might actually pass out from relief as he positively  _rushed_ out of the house, slamming the door shut behind him for good measure.

Logan looked around the room one more time after he was sure the creep left and then headed out to the hall to pick up the duffel bag he'd put the girls things in. He needed to do a little more digging into Bishop's old associates if they were looking for the girls. Not that he was surprised after what Murdock had told him, but still … he wasn't expecting to find a bunch of Russians in their rooms.

* * *

The ride back to Westchester was a relatively fast one — though on his way through Salem Center, Logan was sure to pick up a few containers of ice cream for the girls. Katie for sure would want it, and he guessed that Susie wouldn't turn it down either. When he stepped into the house from the garage, the blood on his shirt had dried, and he'd taken the fresh flannel out of the back of his jeep to cover the not-so-white tee shirt. Susie in particular was a little too scared of him when he had anything like that near him.

The duffel bag was slung over his shoulder, and the ice cream was in a plain brown paper bag in his other hand — though that didn't last long when Susan spotted him first.

"What's that?" she asked, her nose scrunched up as she pointed at the bag.

"It's for you and your sister," Logan said. "Which bag do you want first?"

"Umm… that one," Susie said, pointing at the brown bag. "What's in it?"

"Ice cream," Logan said simply before holding it out to her.

Susan gasped and covered her mouth with one hand. "Ice cream for  _me_?"

"And Katie, yeah. Took a guess at what you might like."

Susie peered curiously into the bag and then let out a giggle. "Did Dr. Blue tell you I like strawberry?"

"Nope," Logan said, shaking his head. "Just took a guess. And if you didn't like it, I would."

"You like strawberry too?" Susie asked, her eyes wide.

"Sure. What did you think I liked?"

"Umm, I dunno. My dad likes  _weird_ stuff. Adults are weird."

"I like stuff that's not too mixed up," Logan said.

Susie nodded seriously. "Me too. I don't like it when stuff  _touches_. It's gross!"

"Well come on; let's get you some ice cream before it melts," Logan said, tipping his head toward the kitchen. "We can deal with the other bag later."

"Okay," Susie said, giving Logan a smile that was only halfway shy before she skipped off ahead of him to go get the boys and Katie so they could have ice cream too.

By the time they all got to the kitchen, Logan had pulled down the bowls and cracked open the strawberry first. "Barney, you can handle the other one, eh?"

"Yeah, sure," Barney said with a smile as he went to the drawer to find an ice cream scooper.

"No, Barney should scoop  _strawberry_ ," Susie whispered urgently, tugging on Logan's sleeve.

Logan held up his hands and took a step back. "Alright," he replied low, then raised his voice for Barney. "Trade you, kiddo. Don't need you sugaring up Katie too much." He winked at Susie and slid over, quick to snatch the chocolate out of Katie's hands. " _You_ need to share."

"Don' wanna share  _chocolate_ ," Katie giggled, trying and failing to jump high enough to reach the ice cream.

"Not even with Clint?" Logan asked.

Katie paused and bit her lip as she looked Clint's way. "Well," she said slowly. "Okay. But only with Clint!"

"What about if Barney wants chocolate too?" Logan said. "Or if Rachel toddles in — which I'm sure is gonna happen."

"Oh. Well. I wike Wachel," Katie said uncertainly. "So… I  _guess_ I share."

"I got plenty," Logan promised.

"For you too?" Katie asked.

"I'm goin' for the other one," Logan said.

"Okay," Katie said, smiling up at Logan before she grabbed Clint's wrist and pulled him until he came and sat with her — and then falling apart in giggles when Jean arrived with Rachel and an innocent expression that absolutely no one believed.

"I heard there was ice cream?" Jean said with a smirk.

"As if you don't have your own stash," Logan said in a low rumble.

Jean smiled at him and pulled a bowl down for herself anyway — plus a little one for Rachel. "But Rachel wants to be with the other kids. And I've been craving chocolate."

"Uh huh. You know, I thought about getting you your usual," Logan said. "But then I remembered you like to send out your errand boy."

"Be nice," Jean said, shaking her head at him.

"I am," Logan replied, frowning at her, though he set her up with some ice cream all the same.

"He likes strawberry, like me!" Susie told Jean with a little giggle.

Jean couldn't hide her smile at that — especially because it was the first time Susie had shown any interest in Logan outside of "stay away from me" and generally mistrusting him. "Oh really?" Jean asked, crouching down to Susie's level.

"Uh-huh." Susie smiled. "So we like the same things. Just on ice cream, though."

Jean smiled a little more at that. "I'll bet if you give him a little time, you can find more things in common."

"Okay," Susie said with a shrug, clearly more intent on her ice cream than Jean's nonsense.

"So you're just … scanning for any time someone brings in sweets?" Logan asked as he and Barney got their bowls and headed for the table with the others.

Jean rolled her eyes at him. "More like listening for times when Rachel can play too. They're all so much older than her."

"You can't pin it on Rachel," Logan said. "Kids were all here before I got back. You can admit it, Jeannie."

Jean smirked his way. "What? Rachel was asleep until ten minutes ago."

"Uh-huh."

Jean laughed and telekinetically tipped Logan's chair back — which got a whole new round of giggles from Katie, too.

But Katie didn't see the wince when Logan caught himself from going further back than Jean had intended, and Logan absolutely wasn't going to draw any attention to it. "Spoilsport," he grumbled to himself.

Jean simply smiled his way — and then managed to get completely caught up in the whirl of sugared-up kids, especially when Clint tried to help Katie get herself cleaned up and  _both_ of them ended up needing to get hosed off instead.

"You're such a good big brother," Jean said with a smile as she helped Clint get the last of the sticky handprints off.

Clint smiled. "I'm tryna be."

"Well, you're doing a great job." Jean kissed his forehead. "Not that I'm surprised. You were already amazing with Rachel, after all."

Clint shrugged at that, though Jean could see the flush of pleasure he was wearing before he gave her a quick hug and darted off to help Barney, who was helping to wipe off the tables too.

"When you girls get cleaned up, I've got something for you," Logan said as Susan did her level best to pick up with Barney.

Katie beamed. "Pwesents?"

"Not exactly," Logan said. "You'll see."

The girls shared a look, giggled, and then tried to hurry through the rest of the clean-up until they were hand-in-hand standing in front of Logan. "Inna see!" Katie sang out.

Logan smirked, though it wasn't as bright as they were used to seeing. "Hey Susie, you know that big bag I brought in? Go open it."

Susie smiled and then carefully slipped over to where the bag was — only to let out a loud  _gasp_ when she saw what was in it. "My books!" she said, almost dancing in place before she rushed over to hug Logan at the waist — while Katie was snuggling her stuffed animals behind her.

"I tried to get what I thought was you favorite stuff," Logan said.

"Thank you," Susie said, hugging him a little more. "Thank you  _lots_."

He was sure to give her a hug in return too as he let his voice go softer just for Susie. "I also got some pictures I know you're going to want. You should set them up on your dresser."

Susie glanced over her shoulder, but it was Katie who saw them when she peeked into the bag and then let out a squeal of happiness. "Mom!" Katie said, snatching up the picture at the top of the stack and hugging it tight. "You got Mom!"

"Is that okay with you, Susie-Q?"

Susie smiled and nodded. "I miss her," she admitted quietly.

"I know," Logan replied. "That's why I got every picture I could with her in it."

Susie nodded, and then her lip started to tremble and she clutched onto Logan again — and Logan wasn't about to let her go until she got it out of her system.


	7. Ducklings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the family just keeps growing.

If Clint was honest, he really hadn't  _wanted_ a little sister.

He liked Katie. He did. In fact, he was surprised by how much he  _enjoyed_ being asked to help her out, especially because she was so small and didn't understand how everything worked or where everyone was or anything like that. It was a lot like helping out with Rachel, who was walking around now and kept trying to follow Clint around.

(Which, to Clint's annoyance, wasn't helping matters with the "duck" nickname his mom had given him.)

But he really hadn't  _asked_ for a little sister, and he didn't really want one. He knew that he'd talked with his mom about whether she wanted her own kids, and he thought that was pretty clear…

Except it was kind of different. Because Katie and Susie needed help just like Clint and Barney had. And it wasn't  _really_ the same as Logan and K having their own. Not really. They were just helping kids who needed it, and that was why Clint's mom was a hero in the first place.

So he was, slowly, starting to get used to the new normal, even if his mom was with the Avengers and  _that_ wasn't really normal. But Katie and Rachel followed him around, Barney helped Susie and flirted with Kitty…

And then, Clint came back to the suite he and his family shared, holding Katie's hand because she needed a nap but didn't want to go to  _her_ room unless Clint came... and there was his mom, sleeping on her bed like she hadn't been gone for the better part of a week with the Avengers.

Clint grinned when he saw it and turned to Katie. "Mom's home," he said, then tipped his head to indicate she should watch him before he took a running start and jumped up onto the bed. "Hi, Mom!"

K twisted to grab a hold of him and bear-hugged him for a moment before she started tickling him mercilessly. "Hi, yourself, troublemaker."

Clint was gasping in breath as Katie tried to climb up to join them too. "Me too! Me too!" she chanted — until Clint reached down and helped her up so she could hug K.

K didn't stop until both of them were panting and gasping for air — the giggles all but run out. "You can't have missed me that much. I wasn't gone for too long, was I?"

"For-eeeever!" Katie giggled, half hiding behind Clint to avoid more tickles.

"Didja kick Hydra butt?" Clint asked, leaning forward with his eyes sparkling.

"Some of 'em, yeah," K said before she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "What about you? Did you solve the world's troubles?"

"No, I mostly did homework and played with Katie," Clint admitted with a shrug. "And Rachel learned a new sign!" He perked up. "She can say 'I love you' now!"

"Why wasn't that the very first one she learned?" K asked. "You know, so she can profess her undying love right off the bat … for all the fluff …."

"I guess 'cause Jean can hear her sayin' it in her head," Clint said with a shrug. He leaned forward seriously. "She and Scott cheat.  _So_ badly."

"Duh," K agreed. "I doubt they'd speak at all if it was just the two of them."

Clint giggled and nodded at that before, not about to be deterred, he got a little closer. "Didja beat the Red Skull?" he asked. "I betcha did!"

"Oooh, Skull!" Katie giggled.

"Never got close to him," K said. "Saw him — but he slipped out before we could get to them. And for some reason, Carol and Steve didn't want to just … chuck me at him."

Katie broke down in giggles at that. "No throw!" she insisted. "Mom says no throw!"

"I like throwing!" K told her before she booped Katie on the nose. "But … it's probably for the best. I beat Steve  _very badly_ at darts later."

"It's 'cause you get so much practice with me and Barney, right?" Clint asked with a crooked grin. "We're the  _best_ at games like that!"

K nodded. "Too bad you're not super strong. I'll bet you could have thrown me right at the Red Skull's ugly face."

"Yeah, I only got a  _sorta_ power," Clint said, scrunching up his nose.

"Natural-born awesome isn't a power," she said. "But it is cool."

Clint giggled. "I just mean how I don't got an X-gene in the right place, like Dr. Blue says. He says I might not even get  _powers_ ; I'm just sorta-powered!"

"Who says it's not the right place?" K teased. "I think you got it just where you were supposed to get it."

"You just like that I'm weird," Clint giggled.

"No, I just  _like you_."

Clint grinned and then darted forward to hug her around the middle. "I love you too, Mom," he said — though he didn't get much of a moment when Katie tried to climb into the snuggle too.

"And how are you, little purple wonder?" K asked.

"I been playing," Katie giggled. "Logan-Woolfereed brought me my teddy!"

"He's sweet like that," K said, nodding. "So … he didn't find a new sweetheart while I was gone, huh?"

Katie made a face. "No, silly! Clint says you're in  _loooooove_!" She giggled. "So he miss you!"

"Well yeah, but that doesn't mean he  _stayed_ that way while I was taking all of Captain America's money."

Katie giggled and started pulling on K's hand. "We go see! We go see!"

"What do you want to go see?" K asked, dropping back heavily. "I can't… move."

"Logan-Wolvernine!" Katie insisted. "You gotta go see! We go see Logan-Wolvernine! Cuz you looooove him!"

"But I snuck in  _right past him_ ," K said, acting like she was too tired to do  _anything_  — and then going so far as to let out a fake snore after Katie stared at her 'sleeping' for a few seconds.

Clint giggled and then leaned over to Katie. "Try tickling her," he whispered to Katie, who lit up with laughter and jumped on K's stomach.

"Not ticklish," K whispered, eyes closed still.

"Tickles! Wake up!" Katie insisted, trying her  _very_ best… while Clint burst out laughing as he watched her go to town.

Until, of course, K popped her eyes open and counterattacked her with more tickles and growls. "Okay.  _Fine_ ," K said. "But I'm going to need hugs and kisses to get out of bed. It's like a law."

"Okay!" Katie said, already happily climbing up to give K little kisses on her nose and cheeks, while Clint laughed and tucked into K's side.

"She's just  _like this_ ," he told K. "She was gonna take a nap, though, so she might fall asleep on you if she can't find Dad."

"If she was going to take a nap, she could have just  _snuggled up_ ," K pointed out.

"I guess she's too excited to see you," Clint said with a shrug. "Because you were with the  _Avengers_." He grinned up at her. "You gotta do that more, Mom. That's  _so_ cool."

"That's kind of what Carol was saying," K said.

"Cause she knows you're awesome, right?"

"Cause she liked outnumbering the boys," K argued.

"That's what Jean says about how come you should join the X-Men," Clint said.

"They both want more girls," K said, nodding. "But I don't know about being an Avenger. I'm very sure that there would be pictures with all the girls ... and Iron Man."

Clint made a terrible face. "Eww. Gross."

"Someone would ask for it; you know I'm right," K said, then gave Katie a little squeeze.

"Maybe Katie can be an Avenger," Clint said, and Katie giggled.

"Uh-huh. Nevenger!" she sang out.

"You want to be an Avenger?" K asked. "Hang out with Carol and Jan and watch Iron Man and Cap argue?" She gave Katie a little kiss on the temple and then let her slide down to the ground, where she started  _trying_ to skip alongside them.

"Inna be a 'Nevenger with Logan-Wolf-vareen!"

"Well, when you put it like that …"

Katie giggled. "I wike him," she said. "I wike him lots!"

"Well, I love him," K said. "He's fun, isn't he?" The little group had taken their time, and K had made sure that they took a few wrong turns — just to listen to Katie get exasperated and yank on her arm to go the  _right_ way.

Clint was giggling madly by the time they got to the others — though when they got there, it looked like Logan's attention was already occupied… by a  _very_ widely grinning Jean and Scott.

K grabbed a hold of Katie and pulled her back around the corner and covered her mouth quickly. "Shhhhhhhh. They're already happy enough. We can go back and  _nap._ "

Katie giggled and shook her head. "No! We go be happy  _with_ dem!"

"They gots enough happy," K whispered.

Katie rolled her eyes and pulled on K's hand. "Puh-leeeeeeease?"

Clint grinned. "She's gonna keep asking 'til you go, Mom," he said. "Mostly 'cause Rachel and her are best friends."

"But … they don't  _need_ me in there when they're being all … like they are."

"Let's at least say hi," Clint said. "Cause now I kinda want to know what's up."

"Well damnit now," K said, crossing her arms as she gave Clint a little look. "You two could have done this without me."

Clint grinned. "Yeah, but everything's better with you, Mom," he said. "And I missed you!"

"Oh, you must be getting top marks in creative writing with a line like that, Blondie."

Clint made a face. "That's not my name!"

"He's  _duck fluff!_ " Katie put in helpfully.

"He is," K agreed as she reached over to screw up Clint's hair. "Quack, quack."

"M-o-o-o-o-om!" Clint protested as Katie started giggling and quacking at the top of her lungs — which prompted Rachel in the next room to become a tiny monster for her mom wanting to join in the quacking games with the other kids.

Jean smiled as she looked past Logan into the hallway and then set Rachel down so the little girl could run right to K and her posse and start going "kack kack" as best she could, to Katie's obvious delight.

"When did you get in?" Jean asked K, obviously tickled.

"Um …. Earlier," K said slowly. "I was trying to catch up on a little sleep when they attacked me."

"Cause we didn't even know she was home!" Clint put in helpfully. "We just found her sleeping!"

"From 'Nevengering!" Katie said, her eyes wide as she bounced on her toes.

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Jean said, her eyes sparkling. "Scott and I were just telling Logan the good news."

"What's up?" Clint asked, trying to get away from the girls, who were now ganging up on him and trying to follow him around with their quacking.

"Scott and I are going to have another baby," Jean said, positively  _beaming_.

For just a second, Clint stared up at Jean, and then he broke into a grin and hugged her tightly — with the girls close behind him doing the same thing. "That's great. You said you wanted one, right?"

Jean smiled and nodded. "We did."

"Well, good." Clint looked over at Rachel, who was giggling with Katie. "I think Rachel needs a sister."

"I don't really think it works that way," Jean said with a smirk. "But I tend to agree."

Katie giggled. "Sisser sisser sisser sisser," she chanted over and over again, until Scott snatched them both up and started to tickle them until they were both giggling and then snuggling into either shoulder once they got worn out.

And while the kids were getting excited with Jean and Scott, Logan and K had a little reunion of their own — entirely wrapped up in each until Barney had to break it up when he got there.

"Umm… I have questions."

"About what?" Logan asked, clearly in high spirits.

Barney smirked. "I mean, I heard there was a celebration going on from Susie—" He thumbed over his shoulder to where Susie was smiling and riding Hank's shoulders to come join the party. "—because she heard it from Dr. Blue. But I didn't know Mom was home?"

"No one was supposed to know that," K said. "I was  _sleeping_."

"And you got sucked in, huh?" Barney said with a smirk.

"No, your brother and your Katie  _woke me up_ ," K said. "I was going to just stay where I was until tomorrow."

"Want me to kick his butt for you?" Barney asked, his smirk widening. "I've been learning plenty in Logan's self-defense."

"Already told you: not for use against your brother," Logan said, though he had  _yet_ to let K step back from him.

"Aww, come on," Barney said. "It's totally defense of Mom!"

"Like Clint would say something against me," K said, shaking her head. "And if you'd been there, you'd have woken me up too, tough guy."

Barney grinned and shrugged at that. "Maybe," he allowed — though he got a bit distracted when Scott set the girls down again and they both rushed over to him for hugs … and quacking. "Wrong Barton. Come on."

"Nope, they've decided you're the interem mother duck," K said before she waved at him to go. "Waddle off with your baby ducks …"

"Hey!" Barney said, though it was hard to argue when Susie started to giggle and climb down off of Hank's shoulders to join the quacking — and he was clearly outnumbered.

"Oh, I hope we get a girl to add to that army," Jean laughed, leaning back against Scott as she watched the kids run off en masse to play together. "That's too fun to watch."

"Sounds like you're volunteering," K laughed.

"To watch them all gang up on your boys? Any day," Jean laughed, still obviously in a good mood before she came to hug K at last.

"Great; see you later then," Logan said.

Jean laughed. "Right  _now_?" She shook her head. "But we're celebrating!"

"That's alright; if you want to turn us down, Hank will be  _more_ than happy to gather them up and tell them 'Nevenger stories," K said.

But at that, Scott laughed outright. "Got you there, Jean. We want them in yellow, remember?" he teased and kissed her cheek.

"Logan manages both in yellow," Hank pointed out.

"Oh, hush," Jean laughed. "Just for that, you're volunteered to help me with the small army."

"And Jan wears yellow, too," K said. "So you know ... "

Jean shook her head and then telekinetically reached out to scoot Logan and K closer together — the few inches they'd been separated when Jean hugged K. "Weren't you two going to go do something that required my stellar babysitting services?"

"Or Hank's," Logan said. "He's perfectly capable."

"Not to mention Susie's in love with him," Scott said, clearly enjoying himself watching the back and forth. "She'd sing his praises in the streets if she had half a chance."

"And with a lovely singing voice, I don't doubt," Hank said, smirking quietly.

"Well you can figure it out on your own," Logan said before he got a solid laugh out of Hank when he tossed K over his shoulder and started walking out. "See you later. Congrats. Again."


	8. Unexpected News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Barney and Clint find out some good (?) news.

 

* * *

For the most part, the last month of Barney's stay in Westchester was filled up with his new big-brotherly duties.

Not that he was complaining. He was pretty much used to that by now, since he'd been looking after Clint for most of his life. But he was almost a teenager now, and he didn't want to spend all his time dealing with Clint and the toddler brigade.

He had  _tried_ to get into the dating scene, since he was old enough to at least put his toes in the water now, but he hadn't really had any luck with Kitty, though it wasn't for lack of trying. It was just blatantly clear that she thought he was too young for her — though considering she was crushing on a guy several years older….

Well, if he was honest, he was excited to get back to the circus. At least there he was sort of an only child. And there was someone  _interested_.

But he would miss the big family here, especially since he really felt like Logan was starting to get used to having him around — and get used to the fact that he was crushing on Kitty.

Still, when the weekend came and it was time for him to pack his things and wait for Paul and Miranda to come get him, he knew he was going to be counting down until the next Westchester visit or the next time his family came to the circus. He'd like to see the girls' reaction to a good circus show.

He was almost set to go, so he figured he'd stop by the barn and say goodbye to K without the entourage if he could, but he was surprised to find she wasn't there.

"Huh." Barney frowned to himself — but he didn't think too much of it, instead spending a little time with the horses and spoiling them for attention behind K's back until he headed back up to the house, figuring K had just gone to be with Logan…

Until he spotted her.

K was curled up in a little ball on the couch in their suite, looking a little green and hugging a pillow as a movie played quietly in the background. The lights were down, and the curtains were drawn — and troublingly enough, she didn't immediately bust him out when he walked into the room.

Barney frowned, approaching K slowly. "K?" When she still looked miserable, he tried again. "Mom?"

When K gave him a tired and tight smile, that decided it for Barney, and he came to sit down next to her. He wasn't sure what he could do to help, but he'd seen Clint through, like, every flu season of the kid's life, so he could handle it, he was sure. "You want me to get Dr. Blue?" he asked.

K shook her head at that. "It'll pass."

Barney scrunched up his nose. "Seriously? You  _heal_. What the heck?"

"Really, don't worry about it, sweetheart. I promise it's not contagious," K said, doing her best to make sure her smile was warm as she pushed herself to sit up straight. "You aren't doing your victory lap already, are you?" She lifted one arm and tried to wave him over. "I rate at least a hug before you go, don't I?"

"Yeah, obviously," Barney said, leaning over to wrap her in a hug, though he was still frowning. "I can stay if ... if there's something wrong…"

K let out a sigh as she gave him the warmest hug she could manage. "Nothing's wrong." When the hug was over, she let her shoulders drop. "It's just the natural order of things, so to speak."

Barney frowned as he thought it over. "So… are you…." He paused as a thought occurred to him, and his eyes widened. "Mom," he said, softer still, "are you getting too… I mean, I don't mean this in a mean way, but Clint says you're older than you look, and are you — if you're getting sick and not healing from it ... are you…" He looked around the room. "We need to do something, because I  _can't_ lose you —  _Clint_ can't lose you. Even if you are  _ancient_ …"

K looked like she couldn't believe  _that_ was the conclusion Barney had come to. "Sweetheart, no," she said at last, shaking her head with a little laugh and giving him another squeeze. "Nothing like that."

"Good," Barney breathed out, not even bothering to hide his relief. "I'd've stayed home from the circus if it was something like that," he added — before he'd even really thought about it. And judging by the look K gave him, she was just as surprised as he was that it had come out of his mouth.

She blinked a few times, then pulled him over to kiss his temple and wrap him up in a bear hug. "You don't even realize how wonderful you are. I'm sure of it."

Barney smirked and hugged her back. "Yeah, love you too, Mom."

K kissed him again, and didn't let go of him for a long moment, weighing out the best way to breach the subject. But … considering that Barney  _was_ leaving, he needed to know.…

She drew in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then blew it out in a woosh. "I'm not dying. Not any faster than I was before I met you two, anyhow," K said in a measured tone, though in spite of her best efforts, there was still a minute shake to her voice. "I … am going to have a baby. So ... I guess … you can say Logan made me sick. Strictly speaking."

Barney glanced up at K, his eyes somehow wider than they'd been when he thought she might have been dying. "Seriously?"

K nodded. "Seriously."

"Wow." Barney stared at her. "I mean… wow."

"Kind of a shock to us. I didn't want to say anything to anyone right away. We don't know … a lot. And it's a little early to tell everyone, if you want to know the truth." She pulled back enough to look him in the face and gently brush his hair out of his eyes. "But I didn't really want you to come home to me  _huge_ and not have reference for it." She took a moment to watch his reaction. "Is that … are you going to be okay with that? I know it's a big change."

Barney took an honest moment to think about it. He wasn't  _entirely_ sure he was okay, but on the other hand, he wasn't surprised, either. He knew that K and Logan kissed all the time — even more than they let Clint know about, though Barney was old enough to know better. "I'm fine," he decided at last, which was the truth. He wasn't  _excited_ , but he wasn't upset either. It was just… one of those things that life had decided to throw at them. "But Clint might freak out a little. The only family we ever liked before you sent us back after a month when the mom got pregnant."

K frowned at that. "Yeah, that's not even an option. I like him too much. You too, for that matter." She took a moment to weigh it out, rolling the words over in her head. "You two do know the difference between fostering and actually adopting, right? Because I said 'forever' to both of you. Not … until I get a baby I wasn't trying for."

Barney nodded quietly. "Yeah, I know," he promised. "And… I don't think you'd do that. You're not like that." He shrugged, looking very much like his brother when he'd get embarrassed. "But… just… do me a favor and please tell Clint like you just told me." He looked perfectly earnest, switching from nervous to the kind of expression that K had long ago come to identify as the Patented Protective Barton Boys Look. "He's gonna be scared, and he needs to hear you ain't gonna drop him, even if he  _knows_ you ain't gonna do it. And… and you should tell him fast, 'cause he's gonna freak out and you gotta  _help_ him." When he met K's gaze, there was no way she could do anything but promise to do exactly that, and once she had, he simply threw himself into a hug with K — and stayed there until Miranda and Paul arrived.

* * *

Clint, meanwhile, had already seen his brother off, and after that, he'd played a round of twenty questions with both of his new sisters as they more or less interrogated him on why Barney was going somewhere else for a while and when they were going to see him next and why  _he_ wasn't going to the circus too, all that kind of thing.

He was, if he was honest, glad for the chance to get out from underneath the girls when he saw his mom headed down the hall, so with an excuse that he needed to ask her for some help on some school stuff, he left the Bishop girls playing their own version of make-believe circus games to catch up to K.

She smiled when she saw him coming and ruffled his hair after he attached to her in a hug. "Sisters driving you crazy?" she teased.

Clint nodded. "They wanna play circus, but I don't wanna play circus," he said. "I wanna go shooting, but they're too little."

K looked over his shoulder, smirking when she saw that Hank had, of course, been pulled into the games by Susan — and that Rachel was hanging onto Hank's arm right alongside Katie. The two youngest girls had gotten closer and closer the last little while, and Rachel was just as likely to rush into fun with Katie as Katie was to go rushing after Clint. It was the same hero worship… Like a little chain of ducklings, though K knew Clint would hate the comparison.

"Let's go," K said, getting a  _huge_ grin out of Clint — especially because it had been so long since they'd had any real time just the two of them.

Clint stuck close to K the whole way out to where their targets were set up, almost tall enough now to put his arms around her shoulders — but not quite. And once they got their equipment out, it was clear how much Clint had  _missed_ this by the grin he couldn't control as they took turns challenging each other to make different shots.

"You know," K said as she lined up a shot. "I'll bet those girls  _could_ learn to shoot if they wanted to. Just … have to start them with something small. I'll bet  _you_ could teach them."

Clint drew himself up proudly. "I  _so_ could."

"Of course you could," K agreed easily before she finally took the shot. "You're kind of amazing."

Clint grinned. "Yeah," he said, blushing with pleasure.

"And you're an amazing big brother too … even if they are being bratty sometimes. I'm impressed."

"Well, it's just like playin' with Rachel, right?" Clint said, trying to play it off but still obviously tickled.

K turned his way with a little smirk. "You can play this 'aww shucks' routine with someone else. Just admit with me that you know you're excellent and better at this than  _anyone else_."

Clint grinned somehow wider, but he also met her gaze and said, perfectly straightfaced, "Aww, shucks, Mom."

"Uh huh. That's what I thought," K laughed.

Clint grinned crookedly. "Well, yeah, it's — it's kinda fun, if you wanna know the truth," he said. "Even if sometimes I wish Katie would  _stop_ following me."

"I always want to know the truth from you. And you can just hang up that hope forever. Little siblings  _rarely_ stop following bigger siblings around," K said, then paused to amend her statement. "Usually only when something horrible happens to the little ones that the big one can't stop… then there's a drift, I think … but that might just be me."

Clint nodded. "I get it," he promised. "It's like how me an' Barney kinda ran away different."

K nodded at that, agreeing with him easily. "Right. You both did what you could, and you both had to take different paths to do it right. Not that you love each other any less." She peeked at him. "But … you really are good at it."

"Thanks, Mom," Clint said. "You really think I can teach 'em to be archers?"

"If they want to learn, yeah. I'll bet you can."

"Maybe I'll wait 'til Katie's bigger," Clint said, cocking his head to one side. "She still has to take naps and stuff, an' you gotta be  _really_ careful with bows…"

"Hey. I have to take naps sometimes. Does that mean I can't shoot?" She reached over and messed up his hair just to do it.

Clint made a face and tried to get his hair back to the way he liked it. "You know what I mean," he said. "I just mean she's little. Like how Scott says I can't be on the team 'til I'm as old as Barney."

K tipped her head. "Well, okay. When you put it like  _that_. But … she'll be as good as you can teach her. Because she'll look up to you like no one else." She let out a breath, losing her teasing tone entirely. "It's an important job, and she's lucky to have you to help her, you know that? Even if neither one of you asked for it."

Clint seemed to pick up on the more serious direction the conversation was going, and he squared himself up importantly, nodding with his eyes wide. "I can do it, Mom," he promised. "I know I'm the littler brother with Barney, but I took care of some other foster kids sometimes, and I played with Rachel when she was born and everything. I promise, I'll be really good!"

"I know you will be, you already  _are_ , but …" K hedged for a moment and decided to just rip the bandage off. "Clint … Katie's not gonna be your only little sibling, you know." By the time she'd gotten it out, most of the smile was gone and she looked more than a little stressed.

Clint blinked at K for a long time, obviously shocked. "You… are you gonna — I thought you said you  _weren't_ gonna!"

"Wasn't planning on it," K said, shrugging up her shoulders. "And I absolutely didn't want to even consider it for a while, but ... I just don't want you to think that you're not my number one."

Clint still looked like he could have been knocked over with a feather. "Yeah, I…"

"You know I meant forever when I signed those papers with you, right? I'm going to stick by that no matter what. There is a big difference between foster and adopt. I never wanted to  _foster_ you. Only ever wanted to keep you if you wanted me to. That will  _not_ change."

Clint bit his lip and nodded before he darted forward to hug K. "I just ... I just really like our family," he muttered into her side.

"Me too," she promised. "But I promise … this wasn't the plan."

Clint nodded and hugged her tighter, though K could see the moment when he at least  _tried_ to play it off, because he straightened up slightly and shot her a smile. "Want me to hit Dad?"

"If you  _want to,_ I won't stop you," K said with a smirk. "But … don't use your bare hand.… I don't want you wrecking your perfect form for a little short-sighted justice. And broken bones would definitely slow you down."

"Yeah, that would make it hard to teach archery," Clint said, wiping his face with the back of his sleeve as he tried to recover.

K pulled him over to give him a kiss on the cheek and then a long bear hug. "I'm sorry we're getting rushed into this. But I didn't want you out of the loop."

Clint latched on tight. "Thanks," he muttered. "I'd've probably been mad if you turned into a big blimp and didn't tell me."

"I also promise not to turn into a  _Jean_  and go all … insane over onesies and drool. That's just not dignified." She let out a sound of pure displeasure. "Oh,  _God_. can we just not tell the Summerses and  _Jan_?" She looked down at Clint with an expression of pure misery. "Can we just … move? And not tell them where we're going?"

Clint broke into a delighted giggle. "We can't  _move_ , Mom! Miss Jean's gonna have another baby too, and I think I gotta help her like I'm gonna help you!"

"I think we can!" she said. "They're going to be horrible, and I'm gonna have to hide behind you being an amazing big brother."

Clint peeked up at her and then kissed her cheek. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll protect you from onesies," he teased.

"I love you. But that sounds like a hollow promise, my darling little duck fluff." She shook her head. "I can't help but think that I'm going to have to pay for the coffee cup attacks at the tower."

Clint shook his head stubbornly. "I may not be old enough to be an X-Man or nothing, but I can help, I promise!"

"I don't think you can stop Jan, sweetheart. I don't think anyone can stop Jan once she gets going."

"Probably not," Clint admitted, shrugging both shoulders up to his ears. "But… I mean… at least Jan has  _Jean_ to design for, right? So it's not  _just_ you gettin' Waspified?"

"Honey, she's been pushing to do this since before we got married. She's just waiting to attack."

"You want me to lay down the law on her?" Clint offered. "I think I can. I could tell her ... I could tell her Katie's scared of not being the littlest anymore and she needs to  _not_!"

"I don't want to lie to anyone, and I don't want you getting started on a bad habit like that," K said. "I'll just … snarl at her, then start crying. That'd probably do it."

Clint nodded seriously. "Yeah, Jan doesn't like it if people cry," he agreed. "It makes  _her_ sad, too."

"Well," K said, tipping her chin up. "I don't really cry often. So it'd probably put a stop to everyone."

"I hope you're okay with lots of hugs, then, because I think if you cry, Susie  _and_ Katie will never stop hugging you ever, and I'll never see you again!" Clint said, throwing his hands up dramatically.

"Then I'll just have to do it when they're not around," K said, arching one eyebrow. "I can do it on cue if I need to." She leaned forward and tapped his nose. "Which, my darling, is why you can't trust when women just … cry. Randomly. It's a thing."

"Isn't that kind of like lying?" Clint asked, one eyebrow up.

"Yes. Yes it is." She kept her chin tipped up at that. "But … it's a great way for a tiny lady to take any guy entirely off-guard." She smirked at him. "If you don't believe me … I can show you. Pick your target."

Clint held up both hands quickly. "No, no!" he said. "I don't want  _you_ to cry! I'd be upset even if I knew it was pretend, because I don't like it when you cry!"

"Alright. I'm just saying," K said, pulling him over to hug him again. "Girls are sneaky. And with the life I've had to live … I'm sneakier than most of them."

"Well, I can be sneaky too," Clint defended.

"You sure can, but you even admitted a crying lady will stop you," K said before she kissed his cheek and switched to sign.  _Don't feel bad. It stops Logan dead._

"That's because Logan likes girls," Clint pointed out. "That's how come he brought home  _two_."

"He's a sucker for them," K agreed.

"Are you gonna have one, then?" Clint asked.

"I really can't control that," K said. "And when you learn the sciencey side of it, you'll see that, either way, whatever we get is  _his_ fault."

"Well, now I gotta talk to Dr. Blue, 'cause I kinda want to know," Clint said. "I can't believe you made me want homework!"

"It's probably too early to let us find out anyhow," K said. "In fact, I know it's too early. I've just been sick and miserable, so … it'll be a while before you know what we're getting."

"But you'll tell me when, right?"

"Sweetheart, I want you to go with to find out," K said. "Unless you're freaked out by it, then … I'll tell you when I'm done."

"Okay," Clint said, then gave her another quick hug, since she did look honestly concerned. "I'll be okay, Mom, I promise. I'll be the best big brother ever. I'll take really good care of you, okay? Because I love you a  _lot_."

"I love you too, sweetheart. And I don't ever want you thinking that I don't. Not even for a second."

Clint smiled at that and burrowed a little deeper into the hug. "Okay, Mom," he muttered, not about to let go until she was ready — and then they could get back to something a little lighter, like trying to out-shoot each other.


	9. It's About to Get Very Busy Around Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is a LOT of good news.

 

* * *

Word traveled fast around the institute, and it was clear that everyone was taking the news of the  _multiple_ little ones on the way exceedingly well. Jubilee and Kitty were practically falling over themselves with excitement to see Logan and K have a  _baby_ , and Jean, for her part, was stuck somewhere between happy she wouldn't be the  _only_ pregnant woman on the team … and insanely jealous that Logan and K had managed to wrangle even  _more_ kids, somehow.

Scott teased her about it, of course, reminding her that it wasn't a race and that the Bartons and Bishops had  _needed_ someone to get them out of trouble — but Jean felt like she was allowed to be a little irrational and jealous when she was as miserable as she was.

And she was  _very_ miserable.

With Rachel, she had a little morning sickness, a little discomfort, a little moodiness... but this second pregnancy seemed much worse, on a scale that Jean was half worried meant something had gone  _wrong_.

It had gotten to the point that she couldn't keep anything down at  _all_ , and when she started dry heaving that morning, Scott waited until she had her breath back before he let her know, in no uncertain terms, that they were going to go see Hank.

Not that Jean would argue with him when she was as miserable as she was.

Scott was exceedingly gentle as he picked her up and let her lean on him as he carried her down. She was still very dizzy, and she didn't want to move around too much, so she appreciated the strong center.

Thankfully, Rachel was still asleep, so she didn't see how  _sick_ her mom looked, but that didn't mean Jean was without an audience when they got down to the labs.

"Oh. If I'd known you were coming down, I'd have left earlier," K said when she saw Jean and Scott.

"We're not trying to muscle in," Jean said. "I'm just… not feeling very…"

"No, I know," K said. "We just got some pictures …" She held up her arm. "And I got stuck. Something about 'dehydration' whatever. He's making things up."

Jean smirked at that. "I've heard that one before myself," she admitted as Scott, one hand on her elbow, helped her get comfortable.

"I knew it. He just likes poking people," K muttered, giving Hank a little glare that had no heat at all. "Would you rather we left?"

"No, it's alright," Jean said. "I was just hoping Hank could... I already have pictures; I'm just…"

"A lot dizzier than last time," Scott told Hank as the good doctor came to examine her. And it was obvious Scott was concerned by how much he was hovering.

"Every one's different," K said. "Or … that's just his way of saying he has no idea what he's doing."

"It's simply a statement of fact," Hank said, shaking his head at her.

"And a sly admission that he doesn't know," Logan agreed, smirking as he settled in next to K.

Hank gave him a dry look and hit the back of Logan's head as he passed to check on Jean. "Standard protocols, my dear old friend," Hank said, setting down the blood draw kit. "We'll check your levels, give you some fluids, and if you're concerned, we can listen for the heartbeat."

"Please," Jean said with a smile.

Hank smiled warmly at her as he got down to work, and in short order, she too had an IV line running saline for her as Hank pulled out the little device that would let them hear the heartbeat.

But it wasn't as easy as it had been in the past. And the heartbeat … simply didn't sound clear at all. Stuttering, fast, and muddled. And it was something that Hank couldn't quite prevent Jean and Scott from hearing. "Perhaps we should move on to images."

Both Jean and Scott looked a bit more strained as they nodded. "Yeah," Scott said.

As Hank got the machinery, Scott and Jean held tight to each other's hands. "You know he probably is just screwing with you," K said as she and Logan watched them, knowing that they both needed to  _breathe_ , no matter the prognosis. "You  _know_ that little one will be perfect."

"Yeah," Jean breathed out, though she was watching Hank.

Hank smiled tightly as he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. But a few short moments later — with the volume turned down to nearly nothing — Hank let out a little breath. "Oh my stars …"

"Horrible bedside manner on this one," K said under her breath, which finally got Hank out of his head.

"Everything is perfectly fine," Hank said. "Picture perfect, really."

Jean raised an eyebrow at that... and then let out a little sound when she peeked at what Hank knew. "Oh, you're kidding me."

Hank chuckled and turned the volume up — again, clearly letting them hear what sounded like a stuttering heartbeat. "It sounds rough because there are  _two_."

For just a moment, it was perfectly silent — until Logan burst out laughing at the expression on Scott's face: a mixture of shock and an honest-to-goodness sort of ecstasy.

"Oh, hush," Jean grumbled, though she had most of her heat turned Scott's way. "This is  _not_ what I meant when I—" When Scott was still grinning, she shoved him back a few steps telekinetically, though that only had him laughing outright. "Oh, stop it."

"They're absolute idiots," K said dryly.

Jean shot her a little smile and then shook her head and turned to Hank. "Can you at least try to find out what we're having?"

"We can certainly look," Hank said, grinning for his friends, since he knew how much they had wanted  _more_  and especially how much Jean wanted the big family that Logan and K had already managed for themselves. K and Logan shared a little look — with Logan still chuckling under his breath as they settled in — and a few moments later, Hank had fresh profiles of the twins. "They're a bit small — understandable, all things considered."

"Right," Jean said, though she was starting to transition from shock to excitement at last. "And?"

"And … they both look perfectly healthy," Hank replied without missing a beat. "Both the girl and the boy…."

Jean broke into a much bigger smile at that, and Scott leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Looks like we can use both of those names, then," he said, which got an affectionate sort of huff out of her.

"I'm still blaming you."

"Okay."

"That's not exactly how this works," Hank interjected, which had Logan snickering and clearly trying to keep from bursting out again.

"Shut up, Logan," Jean said — though that really had him laughing harder.

"You can't blame  _anyone_ ," Logan managed to get out between laughs.

That started Scott chuckling too.  _You were just complaining that he brings home kids in_ pairs _..._

 _Oh shut up_.

 _You're just as excited as I am, so… no,_ Scott shot back, grinning even wider.

 _I can't believe I'm going to have to deal with both of you acting like idiots,_  Jean replied, though she was smiling now, at least.

_It's a regular thing for him. This is a special occasion for me._

Jean let out a sigh. "How long do I need to stay here with the saline?" she asked Hank. "And is this why I've been so sick?"

"Very likely," Hank said. "After all, your body is supporting  _two_ little ones. That's quite the dramatic draw on your strength."

"Any advice?" Jean asked. "Or is it going to be a very long string of using all the saline?"

"As much as I enjoy your company, I think it would be best for you not to need the attention," Hank said with a smirk. "I'm afraid the best thing for it is simply rest and fluids — all the usual remedies. I can give you something to combat the nausea, of course…"

"Well, if you're busy, I can see myself out," K said, already pulling the IV out of her arm. "Don't hold out on her, Henry. She needs to be pampered now. Or else."

"I've got that covered," Scott said.

"Great. Congratulations, you two," K said. "I'll be … somewhere you shouldn't be able to find." Logan took K's hand, sure to give one last crooked smile to Jean and Scott before they slipped out for Hank to finish going over what to watch out for.

* * *

Of course, there was absolutely no way the news of the impending Summers twins — or the fact that Jean was incredibly sick because of it — was going to stay quiet. Not least because Rachel was starting to add to her vocabulary in leaps and bounds and could sucker just about anyone in the house into helping her cheer her mom up by looking up at them with big, sad eyes and saying, "Mommy sick" or "yay babies!"

And, because Rachel and Katie were best friends, this meant that the two smallest girls in the mansion were on a self-appointed mission to make sure Jean was never wanting.

And Jean was  _highly_ entertained.

" _My_ sister says you gots  _two_ babies," Katie said, throwing her hair over her shoulder self-importantly as first she and then Rachel climbed up onto the bed with Jean, bringing some of their toys that they had decided to share with Jean that day. Jean, of course, got the "prettiest" of the stuffed animals because she was sick, and the girls divvied up the others between them, giggling and clearly enjoying themselves.

"Is that so?" Jean asked, smiling over the top of the teddy bear.

Katie nodded seriously. "Uh-huh. And she says her Dr. Blue knows it too! That's how come she knows it."

Jean smiled at that, honestly glad to hear that Susie was still as attached to Hank as she had been when they first arrived. She knew that Hank had been hurt, even if he didn't say anything, when Clint had been a little standoffish with him after his run-in with Sinister — so to have a little girl underfoot who clearly thought that he hung the moon? That had to help.

"Wuv Dr. Blue," Rachel chimed in helpfully, positively  _beaming_ up at Katie, who giggled and nodded her encouragement.

"Uh-huh! Yep! We love him!" she said. She grinned Jean's way. "Rachel don't talk much, but she's learnin'."

"She's still little," Jean said, reaching out to boop the end of Katie's nose. "But I'm glad she has you and your sister and Clint around to help her."

"And Barney sometimes when he's not bein' a circus monkey!" Katie said.

Jean barely hid her laughter at the description. "Yes, and Barney."

Katie beamed at Jean and gave her a hug before she started to direct both of the Summers women on the games they were going to play, telling Jean where she could put her Princess Puffy (her teddy bear) and  _trying_ to get Rachel to play, though Rachel was still too little to quite grasp what Katie wanted her to do and was simply content to make a little row of toys at the edge of the bed, carefully considering every toy's placement with a precision that reminded Jean so much of Scott that she had to laugh as she watched her little girl.

 _You're way too entertained,_ Scott projected as he came in — though he was wearing his uniform, and Jean had to frown when she saw it. She had been so wrapped up in the girls that she honestly hadn't  _heard_ the busy rush of the team getting ready, though now that she could see Scott, she heard everyone downstairs gearing up for a mission to deal with the Brotherhood.

 _Looks like I'm going to be entertained on my own,_ she said with a frown.

Scott kissed her forehead.  _Magneto has been making more noise lately. There's been an uptick in 'weapons' program activity lately_ —  _not just the department after Logan and K but a few others. So, of course, he's going on a rampage to retaliate._

 _Of course he is,_ Jean said, rolling her eyes.  _Tell him to knock it off. I like it better when you're around._

 _Well, I've already asked Clint to take care of you and K for us while we're gone, so I'm sure you won't even notice I'm gone while you're playing with your favorite student,_ Scott teased lightly.

Jean was about to respond, but Katie interrupted her thought with a stage whisper: "My Clint says when they thought-talk like that, you gotta say so out loud so they know they got busted." She was directing her comments to Rachel, but her gaze was on Scott and Jean, and her eyes were positively sparkling with laughter.

Scott just started to laugh at the scene — and then laughed harder when Jean let out a huff and pushed him telekinetically backward a few steps. "You're just like your big brother," Scott said, ruffling Katie's hair. " _Just_ like him."

Katie looked perfectly tickled as she beamed up at Scott. "Thank you very much!" she sang out.

"You're going to take good care of my Jean and my Rachel, right?" Scott asked.

And, just like with Clint, Scott watched as Katie drew herself up. "Uh-huh! I can do it!"

"I know you can," Scott agreed, ruffling her hair once more before he stole a kiss from Jean and headed out.

Jean watched him go for a moment before she let out a long breath. She loved having a family, but this pregnancy was  _so_ much harder than the last one had been, and it was hard to feel so… left out.

But before Jean could start feeling too down on herself, she had two little girls, one of whom was very determined to live up to the task Scott had set for her, snuggling her on either side. And Jean could read in Rachel's mind that she had learned to associate Scott's uniform with long periods of time without her dad around, so Rachel's snuggle was simply a reassurance for the little girl that at least one of her parents was still around.

All at once, Jean's heart totally melted, and she swept both of the girls up for kisses until they started to wriggle and protest. "I love you both, you know that?" Jean said.

"Why you gotta love me with kisses so much?" Katie protested, rubbing her forehead.

"Because you always make the best faces," Jean teased and kissed her forehead again.

Katie rolled her eyes. "You're so weird, Jean."

Jean smirked at that but finally let the girls go so they could get back to playing.  _Scott was right,_ she thought.  _These two take good care of me._


	10. Fierce Defenders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Clint really cares about Logan, okay?

 

* * *

Clint was more than the usual amount of relieved when Logan and the rest of the X-Men got back from dealing with Magneto.

He hadn't said anything at the time, because Scott had asked him to look out for Jean, and he knew that was actually really important, especially because Jean got sick a  _lot,_ and when that happened, she needed someone to make sure the the littler kids didn't get into any trouble while she was in the bathroom puking her guts out.

But the truth of the matter was that he really,  _really_ didn't like the idea of his dad being on any team that went up against Magneto. He knew that the guy could move metal, and the last time Clint had seen him in person, the jerk had thrown his mom against the wall! Clint knew that he could just as easily throw Logan if he wanted to, and it had him downright nervous.

There were so many changes going on in his life, with his new little sisters and another baby  _and_ with Jean and Scott having  _two more_.… He didn't want one more "surprise" to be that his dad had gotten totally  _screwed_ by Magneto while he was out with the team.

So when the team got back in with just the usual amount of bumps and bruises and it looked like Logan was okay, aside from having lost half his shirt in the battle somehow, Clint couldn't hide his honest relief.

It was Jubilee that saw it, actually, and she pulled him aside with a raised eyebrow. "Okay," she said. "I totally know that look. And I gotta tell you right now that you're going to explode if you keep it all in like that."

Clint frowned at that, bouncing from one foot to the other and chewing on his bottom lip. "I'm okay," he lied.

"Uh-huh." Jubilee accentuated just how much she didn't believe him by blowing a huge bubble that popped not far from Clint's face. "It's okay to be worried about him, you know. He's your  _dad_."

"He's yours too," Clint said. "Even if you don't got papers like I do."

Jubilee smiled at that and ruffled his hair. "And don't you forget it."

Clint stuck his tongue out at her as he flattened his hair. "Only my mom can do that."

"Oh yeah? You gonna stop me?"

"I can! I'm taller than you now!"

"Um, dream on."

"I am!" Clint jutted his chin out. "Take your shoes off and stand next to me. I'll prove it."

Jubilee grinned widely as she kicked off her shoes … and then immediately let out a sound of pure betrayal when she realized that Clint had, in fact, hit another growth spurt and was now slightly taller than her. But only slightly.

"We're practically the same height!" she insisted, pointing a finger in his face.

"Close only counts in horseshoes!" Clint sang out to her, then ducked out of the way when she reached out to playfully shove him in the shoulder. "Not my fault you're not a Hawkeye. I can tell the difference, but you're just a firecracker!"

" _Just_ a firecracker?" Jubilee repeated, one hand on her hip, the pointing finger now shooting sparks his way just to accentuate how  _insulted_ she was.

Clint couldn't stop giggling. "Yep! You're just a bag of tricks, Jubilee!"

"Oh, that's it," she said, leaping forward to outright tackle him and try to wrestle him into a pin, but Clint had been practicing with Barney, and he was a lot more flexible than Jubilee had accounted for.

That was the scene when Logan found the two of them, having changed out of his uniform and kissed his wife. He and K both had been able to hear the two of them from the other side of the hall, and judging by the amused smirks they were both wearing as they watched Jubilee try to pin Clint unsuccessfully — and Clint try to one-up her with just as much success — they weren't going to step in at all.

Finally, Jubilee managed to pin Clint down with a triumphant, "ha!" but almost as soon as she'd managed it, K started to laugh.

"Congratulations, Jubes — you pinned the nine-year-old."

Clint snorted laughing at that, and Jubilee flushed red before she finally let him up. "Hey, he's  _way_ trickier than he should be. Not a normal nine-year-old."

"That's true. Mom taught me lots of stuff when I was Susie's age," Clint said. He wasn't too sore about losing to Jubilee when he knew that she had a lot more training because she was on the team … though he  _was_ sore that he wasn't allowed to be on the team just yet. He really wanted to be, and he figured if he could actually sort of kind of keep up in a fight with a real X-Man, he should be allowed to fight people that the X-Men totally  _trounced_ , right?

"What's got you two playing alpha anyway?" K teased — especially because she knew it would get an epic eye-roll out of Clint and a snerk from Logan.

"I'm taller," Clint said, drawing himself up to his full height to accentuate the difference.

" _Barely_ ," Jubilee said.

"Yeah, and you're never gonna catch up," Clint said, sticking his tongue out at her. "My first dad was six feet tall!"

" _Some_ of us only grow until we're perfect," Jubilee said with a sniff.

"Oh, so  _now_ you don't care that you're shorter than your  _teeny tiny baby brother,_ " Clint sang out to her.

"I thought you weren't so teeny tiny!" Jubilee shot back.

"Girls, you're both pretty," K said, though she was laughing and not even bothering to hide it.

Besides entertaining K, the two of them had also managed to pull in an audience, and Katie was peeking her head around the corner to see what all the fuss was about, her blanket clutched up nearly to her chin and her little shadow, Rachel, right behind her, holding her blanket almost exactly the same way — though Rachel was watching Katie, not the argument in the hallway.

"Whatcha doing?" Katie asked, making her way over to Logan and holding her hands up in a clear sign that she wanted to be picked up. And when Logan smirked and scooped her up, Rachel quickly babbled at Logan and even started to jump up and down until he finally picked her up in his other arm.

"They're being silly," K told the girls with a smirk, knowing that it was one of Rachel's new favorite words — and sure enough, Rachel started to parrot it almost immediately: "Silly, silly, silly!"

Clint shrugged. "Well, we didn't  _start_ silly. It just kinda happened."

"Yeah, that happens with big sisters," K said with a smirk. "Totally normal."

"Big sisters — yuck!" Katie stuck her tongue out and then buried her face in Logan's shoulder, as if the very thought of big sisters was too much for her.

Logan chuckled at that. "What'd Susie do now?"

"She says she wantsta be  _blue_ when she's big," Katie said, making a face.

"Why not? Seems like a good color to me," Logan said, knowing it would rile her.

Sure enough, Katie rolled her eyes and put her hands on both sides of Logan's face so that he had no choice but to look her in the face and recognize just how serious she was. "She just wantsta be Dr. Blue! She likes  _pink_  best!"

"Maybe she likes blue better now," Logan said, smirking at her insistence.

"Well, maybe she'll get to be blue," Clint pointed out reasonably. "If she's got a mutant gene thing, then maybe she'll be blue later, when she's bigger."

"And if she doesn't, she can always dye her hair blue," Logan agreed.

Katie let out a noise of pure displeasure. "You makin' it worse!"

"I dunno," Jubilee said, smirking as she rested a hand on her hip. "I bet Susie could  _kill_  the blue-hair look. I'll help her cut it…"

"No!" Katie shook her head, her eyes wide. "No doin' that!"

"Nah, 'Ro'll help her cut it," Logan said, straight-faced. "Nice lil' mohawk …"

"No,  _I'mma_ Hawk!" Katie insisted, looking even more distressed than before. "Like my Clint!"

"You sure are, Katie," K agreed. "Hey, I've got a friend of mine that says your  _new_ purple bow should be ready any day now." She smirked at Clint. "If you want to learn, that is."

Katie  _immediately_ switched from being upset about her sister's hair to being totally thrilled. "A bow?" she repeated. "For  _me_?"

"And it's purple," Clint said, drawing himself up a little because he was so pleased his mom had gotten things arranged so he could  _help_ Katie be a Hawkeye.

"Because I  _thought_ that was your favorite color, but if you'd rather it was … oh… maybe  _yellow_ , you should tell me now so I can make them change it," K said.

Katie shook her head, squirming to be let down until Logan set her down - only for her to run right to K and grin up at her. "I like purple," she said, the grin turning a bit more crooked once she'd said it.

"I thought so," K said, nodding a little.

"And Susie likes  _pink_ , not blue," Katie insisted, nodding her head slowly and very seriously. "That's important."

"Well, if Susie-Q ever decides she wants a bow, I'll make sure it's pink," K agreed.

"I dunno," Katie admitted, shrugging one shoulder up to her ear. "She likes readin' with her Dr. Blue."

K crouched down to be on Katie's level. "This is very true," she said, nodding her head. "Can you tell me which pink she likes best? Light pink or Barbie-pink?"

Katie giggled. "Really light stuff," she said. "Like … like a fairy princess kinda pink!"

"Gotcha," K said. "Fairy princess pink it is. I'll remember that."

"Good, 'cause it's important," Katie said — and Clint had to hide his giggle when he caught Rachel watching Katie and giving Logan a very 'important'-looking sort of nod, totally copying everything she saw the older girl doing and clearly entertaining Logan.

K put her finger to her chin as she looked as if she was thinking it over hard. "Maaaay-be she'll need fairy princess pink on the pony she's been riding. Like her blankets and halter."

Katie's eyes went wide, and she started to bounce in place. "Uh-huh! Yes! Yes, that!"

"And what about you? Do you want purples for the little pony I found for little old you?"

Katie gasped, clasping both hands to her mouth. "For  _me_?"

"Well … not forever. Just until you outgrow little Chocolate Chip Cookie. We'll call him Cookie for short."

"Oooh!" Katie danced and wiggled and then attached to K in a hug. "I love it lots and lots and lots and lots and lots!" she promised.

K snuggled her right back. "And when you're too tall for Cookie, Rachel can learn to ride him."

Clint grinned and leaned over to Jubilee while Katie was melting all over his mom. "Mom really likes spoiling us kids," he stage whispered.

"She sure does," Jubilee said, smiling to herself. "You guys are so  _spoiled_."

"Don't start," Logan said, giving her a look. "You get plenty of spoilin', ya rotten little mall rat."

"Yeah, you get to be an X-Man, and Dad's making me wait 'til I'm a whole  _thirteen years old_ ," Clint said, rolling his eyes to show how unfair he thought it was.

"Well … that's because he's more like a  _brother_ to me than a  _dad_ ," Jubilee said, rolling her eyes. "That's the way I see it anyhow."

"Okay, but you were totally doin' the 'what do you want with my dad' thing to Mom when they were dating," Clint said with a wicked smirk Jubilee's way.

Jubilee waved a hand. "Whatever, man. Gotta protect my Wolvie."

"Thought you said it was a waste of time to worry about 'im," Clint said. He honestly  _liked_ having Jubilee and Kitty around when Barney was gone, because it was like still having older siblings around to annoy, and he really liked busting them out.

"Izzat so, Jubes?" Logan asked, looking entertained.

Clint grinned. "Yeah, I was worried 'cause you were fighting the guy who can literally  _throw you around with your skeleton_ , and Jubes said it was a bad idea to get all worked up."

"Oh, that." Logan shrugged. "Nothin' to worry about."

Jubilee was clearly giving Clint an "I told you so" kind of look, but Clint found that he couldn't quite leave it alone. "But he could really hurt you!" he insisted. "He tossed  _Mom_ ," he added, his tone making it clear that he considered this to be the very  _worst_ thing that a supervillain could possibly do.

Logan smirked and shook his head. "Gonna take more than that to stop me, kiddo."

"It better," Clint said seriously. "Because I actually  _like_ you as my dad, and I've never liked a dad before, so you can't  _die_."

Logan smirked at him and reached over to screw up his hair as much as possible. "Relax. I'll be fine. I'm not gonna leave your mom hangin' like that. She'd bring me back from the dead just to kill me if I did."

Clint nodded. "That's right she would," he said before he darted over to hug Logan tight.

"You sure you're alright, kiddo?" Logan asked, one arm around Clint's back.

Clint nodded, though he kept his voice to a bare whisper. "There's just… a lot of changes happening," he muttered. "And new stuff and… I just want 'em to be good changes and not bad ones…"

"Pretty sure that's where all of us are leanin', kiddo." Logan barely said it, but when he did, he was sure that Clint could read his lips. "It's gonna be fine."

"Yeah, I know. But still."

Logan nodded at that. "Got any name suggestions to give your mom yet?"

" _Not_ Frances. Or Francis."

"Yeah, got that memo," Logan chuckled.

"I dunno…"

"Cause the ones the Avengers are throwin' out there are just ... " Logan shook his head.

"Well, just… don't go with Harry and you're okay," Clint said.

Logan stopped and frowned deeply. "That would just … sound stupid."

"Yeah, well, you did ask."

"Yeah, but if I remember right, I was askin' what you  _liked_ , not what to avoid."

Clint shrugged. "Well, you ain't gonna name a kid 'Indiana'," he teased.

"Won't work with 'Howlett'," Logan said with a smirk.

"Well, I guess… if it's a brother? I guess I think… I think it should be, like, an action hero name."

"Oh yeah?" Logan was smirking a little wider as he listened to Clint work his way through it.

"Uh-huh. 'Cause I'm gonna help 'em be a hero no matter if it's a brother or sister, but I think if it's a brother, it should be something  _cool_."

"And if it's a girl?"

"Oh. Well." Clint paused. "Well. I… I like 'Eve.'"

Logan tipped his head at that. "Pretty old-fashioned."

"Well, it's…  _almost_ Mom's," Clint said. "When I was little and couldn't hear so good, that's what her name sounded like, and it was kinda pretty even when Dad said it." He scuffed his feet against the ground. "So… so I like it."

Logan smirked at that and watched Clint for a long moment. "I like it too," Logan said. "We'll have to give it to your mom and see what she says."

"Well, if it's a boy, you should pick something  _good_ , but yeah, Mom can pick good ones too." Clint smiled up at Logan. "Maybe she'll let you help."

"She can pick whatever name she wants," Logan said. "I'm not gonna argue with her one bit."

"Because Mom's always right," Clint said with a smirk.

"Because she's gotta do all the work; I'm not dumb enough to think I should push her on it."

"Plus, you like her," Clint pointed out.

"No, I love her," Logan corrected, screwing up Clint's hair again. "Get it straight."

"Ooh, right." Clint shook his head as he flattened his hair. "So can we go riding or something? Since you're not all screwed up by Bucket-Face?"

"Sure," Logan said. "Let me get into some decent boots first at least."

"Okay. And you can kiss Mom too," Clint said, already grinning as he headed to go get himself a jacket. "Thanks, Dad!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Clint tries to be a hero when faced with the doctor's checkup of nightmares.

 

* * *

Clint, Katie, and Susie were all trying to be "good" for the checkup, though it was hard not to want to peer over Hank's shoulder as he took a look at Logan and K's little one for himself. They were  _hoping_ to find out if it was a boy or a girl, if the little one would cooperate, and it was obvious that the Bishop girls were  _clearly_ on Team Girl.

"It's a sister," Katie was saying, holding onto Logan's shoulders and giving Hank her most concentrated look. "You gotta say it."

"That's really not what we're looking at today, Katie," Hank said, trying to look serious, though that was difficult with all the little ones climbing around him.

"But Miss Jean said that it's been long enough!" Katie insisted.

"Yeah, and I want to prove 'em wrong and get a brother," Clint said with a crooked grin. "Since Barney's not here all the time, so we need another one so it's two boys and two girls in the summers. It's  _fair_."

Katie stuck her tongue out at Clint. "Nuh-uh. You're bigger! We need more!"

"Whatever it is, it's Logan's fault," K said with a smirk just to see the three of them turn Logan's way with an accusatory glare, which at least got a smile out of Hank.

"You gotta get me a sister!" Katie insisted, clinging onto Logan a little tighter. "I  _neeeeeeeed_ one!"

"And I need one too!" Susie said. "I like my Katie; I want another one just like her!"

"Not really my call," Logan told Katie quietly. "Though I wouldn't mind it one bit."

"But Dr. Blue  _said_ it's your fault!" Katie insisted.

"My fault, not my pick," Logan said. "Little different. He can explain the science of it when you're  _older_."

"How much older?" Susie asked. "Like… like  _me_ older?"

"If Blue says you're old enough, he can tell you the details."

"After this checkup," Hank told Susie firmly. "I'd be more than happy to give you a rudimentary overview of genetics."

"He's not speaking words," Katie whispered in Logan's ear.

"He likes to feel smart; don't screw that up for him," Logan replied back softly.

"Okay, but I still think it's weird," Katie said, wrinkling her nose.

Hank chuckled at that as he continued his examination, nodding and humming slightly to himself — though he didn't realize he was doing it. "Interesting," he said softly.

"That's never good, is it?" K asked, whisper-quiet, so that only Hank and Logan could hear her.

"Oh, no, no," Hank said quickly. "It's just that he seems to have some extra bones in his arm. Just the very beginnings, but… I'm surprised it's starting this early."

" _Physical_ mutation," K said with a little shrug.

"Yes, but it's still fascinating to see how  _early_ in development they start," Hank said, then paused and smiled. "He's shaping up nicely, by the way — even if he is smaller than I'd like to see. But then, neither of you are giants…"

"I'd be afraid if he was 'normal'-sized," K replied as Logan leaned over to kiss her temple.

"So it's a brother?" Clint said, looking between the three adults with the beginnings of a triumphant smile — since he had read their lips even if they were talking too low for the kids to hear.

"That's what he said," Logan said with a nod.

"There is, of course, a small chance that I'm wrong," Hank said. "A girl can sometimes be sneaky with the umbilical cord… We can double-check at the next appointment to tell for sure."

"No offense, Dr. Fuzzy, but I hope you're wrong," Susie said, scrunching up her nose.

"None taken, sweet little Susie-Q." Hank gave her a kind smile. "I'd be able to say for sure with a better picture, but he seems to be a bit uncooperative."

Susie tipped her head and then shrugged before she headed over to hug him. "That's okay. Maybe it's a boy then if he's bein' annoying."

"So … you and Katie always get along always and forever?" K asked with a smirk, trying not to laugh. "And she's never, ever, ever annoying, right?"

"Um, no…." Susie scrunched up her nose. "But boys are the  _worst_!"

"Even Barney?"

Susie froze, and Clint started laughing behind his hand. "Well," Susie said haltingly, "Barney's  _okay_ …"

"Susie and Barney sitting in a tree," Clint sang out. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Ewwww!" Katie squealed. "No kissin', no!"

"I like kissin'," K teased.

"That's how come you got a baby," Clint said with a smirk.

"You're not wrong," K agreed.

Clint smirked and waited until Hank was done and K had cleaned up the goop before he climbed up to give her a hug and kiss her cheek. Even if he was taller now, he still loved to curl up with her. "So. You gotta give him an action movie name, okay? A really, really good one. Like… a hero name."

"Oh, is that what I have to do?"

"Uh-huh. So he can be super awesome!"

"You don't think he'll be super awesome with whatever name we give him?"

"My name is  _Clinton Francis_. I think he'll be awesome anyway, but I don't want him to have a stupid name like mine, okay?"

"You made your feelings about that very clear, so no Clyde Abernathy or anything like it, okay?"

Clint snorted. "Yeah. Nothing like that," he agreed fervently.

K leaned her head on his and took a moment to snuggle in. "Nothing weird. Promise. And you'll get to know before he's here, too, alright?"

"Okay. If I hate it, can I tell you?"

"Please," K said with a smirk.

"Okay, good." Clint put his head on her shoulder, feeling surprisingly tired. "Winning is wearing me out."

"Just that kind of day, sweetheart," K said, sounding tired herself.

Susie frowned and tugged on Hank's arm until he picked her up so she could melt into his shoulder. "I need a nap," she informed him, through a yawn — which had the adults concerned when they started to feel the effects and recognized it as more than simple tiredness.

"Hank," Logan said, frowning deeply as he picked Katie up — and she immediately put her head on his shoulder, snuggling in. "We gotta get outta here."

Hank frowned at the tone of Logan's voice as he held onto Susie. "Tunnels, then?" he suggested, though as soon as he started to move, he could feel how much he was slowing down, feeling heavier.

"Panic button," Logan said, trying to keep from slipping and hurting Katie as she slept on his shoulder.

Hank nodded, hitting a button at his desk that locked down the lab — and alerted the other X-Men to the emergency — though both of the girls were already asleep, and Clint was fighting the unconsciousness as his head slid off K's shoulder and he jerked to try to right himself. But it was clear none of them could stay awake, and a moment later, all of them were unconscious.

* * *

When Clint woke up again, his head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls. His mouth tasted funny, too… But he was starting to come around and startled when he saw Rachel behind  _bars_... and then relaxed slightly when he saw it was a crib….

Just… not  _her_ crib.

Clint tried to scramble to his feet, but he was still super fuzzy, and he couldn't get over to Rachel as fast as he wanted to. But when he did, he was glad to see that she looked like she was okay, just asleep.

He glanced around. There wasn't much in the room. There were some toys for Rachel ... stuffed animals, that kind of thing… There was just the one door, and Clint shook his head hard to clear it before he slipped over to  _try_ to open the door. But he really wasn't surprised to find that it was locked.

Clint narrowed his eyes and looked back at the toys. If he could find something that had a long, flat part, maybe he could get the hinges off. Barney had done that once. They hadn't been able to walk for a  _week_ , but it had been worth it to sneak out of that particular foster home.

Clint sorted through the baby toys for a few minutes before he did, at last, find just what he needed and set to work, his tongue tucked into the corner of his mouth. He had even managed to get the hinge on the bottom undone when the doorknob turned. Clint barely scrambled back in time before it swung open — revealing that same creepy doctor that had … had  _cut up_ Logan.

The man paused and tipped his head to the side as he noticed what Clint had been up to, and before Clint could find a reasonable weapon or cover, the creep began to  _smile_ at him. "You're cleverer than you look, aren't you, my boy?"

Clint backed away from him quickly. "Where are we?" he demanded, trying to sound braver than he felt.

"That's really not your concern."

Clint kept backing up until he knocked into the crib, and then he glanced over to Rachel, who was still sleeping, but now it was fitfully, and she'd probably wake up soon. He glanced up at Sinister, and then he got a little braver. "Leave her alone."

"How is it that you're awake so quickly?" Sinister asked, leaning down slightly so that he was on the same level as Clint and completely ignoring his attempt at heroics.

"I dunno," Clint said, still holding onto the toy he'd been using as a tool. "I guess I don't sleep good in creepy lairs."

Sinister smiled a little wider. "I doubt that's the case," he said. "Even the woman you've been traveling with is barely awake."

"My  _mom_ ," Clint corrected him sharply.

"Yes, that," Sinister said in a flatter tone. "But even correcting for how worn down she is … the Summerses are still under. They don't heal like she does. There must be some reason  _you_ are awake."

Clint narrowed his eyes at that, his hands clenched in fists. "You leave them alone. Miss Jean is having babies, and you—"

"Yes, which is why I'm here," Sinister said. "Or, more appropriately, why  _they_ are here."

"Leave 'em alone," Clint insisted hotly.

"I think you and I will need a bit more time than I'd anticipated," SInister said, ignoring Clint's anger. "But not until I'm done with the others. This all goes so much easier when they're out."

Clint shook his head, stepping in between Sinister and Rachel as he moved toward the crib. "No." He tipped his chin up. "That's one of my friends."

Sinister looked as if he was losing some of his good humor at that. "I'm not going to harm her."

"You hurt my whole family, and you hurt Scott and Miss Jean, and you don't get to hurt Rachel."

Sinister looked more interested as he watched Clint. "If you like, you can hold her. I'm only interested in making sure she's healthy. Nothing like what you remember with Logan and the girl."

Clint bit his lip. "I… I guess. Yeah. I… but if you hurt her, I'll knock your teeth out!"

It was clear by the expression Sinister was wearing that he thought he was placating the boy as he stepped around him to pick up Rachel and then gently hand her to him. "Carefully now, Mr. Barton." As soon as Rachel was half snuggled into Clint, Sinister put his hand around the back of his neck to steer him the right way. "This won't take long."

Clint could feel his heartbeat in his throat as he clutched onto Rachel. "What're you gonna do?" he asked. He tried to make it sound like he was interrogating him, but he was too scared to pull it off right.

"Just what you'd expect," Sinister said as they stepped into the lab. "Height, weight … reflexes, of course. I'm sure she's a bit quicker than she should be." He smirked, though Clint couldn't see it. "Nothing that will cause her pain."

"That… actually sounds like a doctor visit," Clint said, clearly not trusting it.

"I  _am_ a doctor," SInister said, though his lip was curled up in a sneer.

"You're a supervillain."

"The world according to an eight-year-old."

"Nine." Clint glared up at the guy. "I'm  _nine_."

"I'll adjust my notes."

Clint let out an unimpressed noise at that, though he couldn't say what he wanted to say about how if he was a  _real_ doctor, he'd know things like that — because he saw further into the lab that Jean and Scott were asleep, and K was groggily coming out of it.

Sinister redirected Clint and Rachel to a quiet, well-lit section of the lab and carefully picked her up to do the things he'd promised. Clint was surprised to see that the creep was gently handling Rachel as if she was his own, though the diamond on his forehead was glowing a little bit brighter as he looked her over. When he finally handed Rachel back to Clint, Rachel was even smiling a little — though Clint noticed that she had a Band-Aid on her finger.

Clint bit his lip and then gave Rachel a little kiss on her forehead. "I gotcha, Rach," he said before he looked up at Sinister. "Okay. You did your thing. So can we all go home now? Please?"

"When I'm done with the others as well," Sinister replied. "And you, young man ... " He reached out and rested his hands on either side of Clint's head as the diamond glowed and he took a quick, more in-depth look into Clint's mind. When he saw all he could, he took a moment to more or less freeze him into place to take a blood sample, though it was a bit more than the pinprick Rachel got. "Further study is required."

Clint was almost shaking by the time the freezing command let up, and he held onto Rachel a little tighter, though this time, it was more for his own comfort than out of protectiveness. "I'm not a mutant," he whispered. "Leave me 'lone."

"You're more than human though, Mr. Barton," Sinister said as he took the vial of blood to his workbench and gently put it into a machine. "And that has my interest piqued." He turned back to him with a satisfied look. "Not like your three friends here, of course. But interesting nonetheless."

"You kidnapped pregnant ladies," Clint said. "That's not okay."

"Oh, I won't hurt them either," Sinister said. "For them, this is entirely about making sure everything is developing nicely."

"That's… real different from last time," Clint said, his tone clearly distrustful, though he was starting to edge his way toward his mom, if he could.

Sinister tipped his head up as he made his way across the lab, effectively cutting Clint off at the pass. "Different circumstances require different approaches. And for her, I needed a baseline."

"She's doin' fine," Clint said. "I'm getting a brother. There. Now you know stuff. Go 'way."

"Yes, I saw," Sinister said, looking almost proud to hear it. "And he's taking after his father already."

"Good, then he can help me kick your butt."

"I doubt that," Sinister said with a little smirk.

Clint frowned, though before he could say anything, he heard a hoarse voice say, "They'll both be the death of you if I don't get there first, Sinister," and turned to see that Scott was starting to wake up.

"Must you wake up with nothing but empty threats, Mr. Summers?" Sinister said, sounding almost bored. "You know that's simply not the way this will play out."

"Keep telling yourself that," Scott said, though with Sinister working on monitoring K, Clint was inching toward Scott instead — if for no other reason than to feel slightly safer. "And leave my kids alone."

"Normally, I wouldn't tell you any of my findings," Sinister said, totally ignoring Scott's outburst. "But this one will need to be watched carefully." He looked over to Scott as he paused his examination. "Adamantium was never meant to be inside the body like this."

For just a moment, it was clear Scott was torn between wanting to know what was going on and wanting to screw Sinister. Finally, he settled on, "Logan won't let her hurt."

"Yes, well, at any rate, the heavy metal poisoning will be harder to stave off during the pregnancy if what I'm seeing is correct. And it is."

Despite himself, Scott couldn't help but be concerned. "What about the baby?"

"As I said," Sinister replied with a well-hidden smile, tickled that Scott was, as always, easy to manipulate into his plans. "She'll need to be closely monitored and the levels dealt with. If it gets too high, the child will suffer for it."

"I won't let that happen," Scott said. He paused. "Keep out of it."

"We'll see how it goes," Sinister said. "It's fascinating, truly. His claws are already developing …"

"You're late," Clint cut in. "Dr. Blue already saw those and told us about 'em."

"Yes, but what McCoy sees and what I see are two different things," Sinister said in an irritated tone. "My equipment is much more sensitive, for one thing … better suited to more than a simple  _peek_."

"Because you're a supervillain and he's a  _doctor_ ," Clint said, which got a sort of snerk out of Scott even with how mad Scott was.

"Exactly," Scott said, smirking Clint's way.

"Oh, so that's the kind of thing you teach at that boorish school," Essex said, totally invested in his work as he finished a long list of measurements and whatnot before drawing out several vials of blood … and moving on to Jean to do the same.

And while Essex worked, Scott turned his attention to Clint and Rachel, knowing that Clint was more than a little freaked out, even if Rachel didn't understand what was going on and was jabbering at Clint. He tipped his head to catch Clint's gaze and then mouthed out, "There's a lever under the table."

Clint's eyes widened, and then he nodded, clutching Rachel tighter for a second before he glanced at Essex, who was still working on Jean, and then ducked under the table quickly. And as soon as Clint found the little lever, Scott sat up fast, removed his glasses, and simply blasted Sinister through two walls.

Clint let out a little whoop as he popped back up and rushed toward his mom to shake her awake with the hand that wasn't holding Rachel, while Scott was quick to do the same for Jean, gently shaking her awake… with a lot more success than Clint was having with K.

"Mom, c'mon," Clint said, shaking K's shoulder harder when he saw Jean sitting up. "Please, c'mon."

"I'm just tired," K said thickly.

"We gotta get outta here," Clint told her, though the seriousness was underscored by Rachel, who giggled and waved at K.

"Hi, hi!" she called out to K. "Cereal!" she added, in the best way she could, in her limited vocabulary, say "good morning."

"Where's your mom, sweetie?" K asked, her eyes still closed, though she was at least going along with Clint pulling on her to get upright.

"She's over there," Clint said, tipping his head toward Scott and Jean. "I'm just babysitting until Miss Jean feels okay."

"What's wrong with her?" K asked, cracking an eye open.

"Same thing as you," Scott said. "Drugged." He had a shoulder under Jean's arm as he pulled her upright as well. "Clint's right; we need to get moving. Do you think you can get upright?"

"Okay," K said, though it didn't sound convincing to Scott as she slipped off the table and held onto it and Clint.

"I can help her if you can hold Rachel," Clint offered Scott's way. "I'm not super strong enough to do both, though. I only got two hands, and I'm still nine."

Scott smirked at that as he came to scoop up Rachel. "You're doing great, Clint; you really are. Can you help your mom until the team catches up to us? Jean's going to contact the professor."

Clint nodded. "I got it."

"Good. I know you do," Scott said, giving Clint an encouraging smile before he led the way out — not willing to risk waiting any longer.

When Scott and Jean were a little ahead of K and Clint, K turned toward him. "You gonna tell me what's going on or are you gonna make me wait?"

"That creepy doctor grabbed you an' me an' Miss Jean's whole family, but Scott blasted him, so we're running away before he gets up again and puts us all to sleep."

"Okay, sure," K said, nodding.

"You really don't feel good, do you, Mom?"

"I just want to go back to sleep," K admitted. "In a softer bed." She took a deep breath at that. "You and the girls can watch movies if I can just … sleep. If you guys don't mind, that is."

"I'm totally okay with a movie night," Clint promised. "Let's just get out of here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who hasn't read the 714 Universe (and if you haven't, you really should :P), this concept of Clint being a little bit different to a normal human actually came from something we noticed in the comics: Clint has, canonically, been affected by power dampeners and inhibitors.
> 
> Now, we didn't want to take away from Clint's mad skillz by attributing his archery to some kind of superpower like super sight or something. But then we got to thinking… what if the power that's being inhibited in moments like that is a healing power? Clint is, after all, a walking disaster. He takes the hits that super soldiers do and manages to keep coming back (albeit with a hospital stay). It wouldn't be something as massive as Logan's, obviously… but what if he bounced back a little faster, had a little better immune system, had a little better pain tolerance? If that was taken away in mid-battle, he'd be hurting and slowing down, and that would definitely affect his aim.
> 
> He's still the squishy little human we all know and love; he's just a little more durable, that's all. And thus, he wakes up from gas a little faster. We'll explain more as we go in this story, but I wanted to leave a note explaining where this was coming from, why we're doing it, and quietly pointing toward the 714 Universe lol.


	12. Hero in the Making

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I couldn't leave that evil for too long... not in such a fluffy universe!

 

* * *

In Westchester, Logan had of course woken up before Hank did, though when he saw that K and Clint were both missing, he swore under his breath and then shook the doctor awake, careful of the two sleeping girls that Sinister clearly hadn't cared to look at.

Susie was still asleep, snuggled into Hank's side with her hand wrapped up in the fur on his shoulder. Hank's first instinct on waking up was to make sure that she was alright, and once he had determined that much, he also frowned over Katie sleeping on Logan's shoulder.

Neither Hank nor Logan needed to say aloud what they were both thinking. They both knew what had happened, since they both recognized the taste and smell of the lingering gas. And since Sinister had managed to catch them with all the equipment still set up to look into K's pregnancy, it couldn't have been difficult for him to figure out that there was another little one to catch his attention.

The two of them headed upstairs, somehow not surprised to find that the rest of the X-Men were in varying stages of consciousness. Nor were they surprised when they got to the living room and saw that Rachel's toys were still all over the place — and Jean's ice cream was still in a bowl by the couch — but there was no sign of the Summers family.

Logan set Katie down on the couch, and Hank sat down beside the sleeping little girl, knowing that, until then, she had been the only thing keeping Logan from rushing into a hunt to try to find his wife — even if they both knew he wouldn't find anything.

"I'll watch over these two," Hank promised — and just like that, Logan was off like a shot.

While Logan hunted and the rest of the mansion started to wake up and take stock of themselves, then, Hank turned his attention to the two little girls. Katie was still solidly out, and Hank frowned to himself; the gas had to be much more potent in a little body. But Sinister never used anything that would leave lasting damage on his "subjects," so she would be alright… if a little groggier than the rest of them.

As for Susie, she was starting to shift slightly in her sleep and let out little, tired noises, so Hank was reasonably sure that she was coming out of it faster than Katie was. He gently bounced Susie, still holding her to his chest, and then smiled as she very sleepily peered one eye open. "Hello there, Susie Q."

"Hi," Susie said, then let out a great big yawn and snuggled back onto Hank's shoulder.

Hank couldn't help but smile, especially seeing how comfortable and safe Susie felt with him. "Rise and shine," he sang to her. "It's not bedtime — not yet."

Susie let out another tired noise and rubbed her eye with her fist. "I don't wanna."

"I know," Hank said. He shifted how he was holding her so that she wasn't leaning on him quite as much but sitting in his lap instead. "Can you tell me how you feel? Do you have a headache or anything?"

Susie shook her head. "My mouth tastes funny." She frowned. "Am I sick?"

Hank smiled and booped the very end of her nose. "No, but you did breathe in something that shouldn't be in the air. It made you very tired, and we all fell asleep too. I just want to make sure you aren't suffering from any lasting effects."

Susie nodded slowly, seriously thinking it over so that she could try to help Hank if something was wrong. "I'm okay," she said, still nodding. "Just my mouth is funny and I'm tired."

"I'm very glad to hear it," Hank told her, letting his relief show in the hug that he pulled her into. "Even if I am very sorry to hear how tired you are. It's not fun when you feel like you have to drag yourself through the day, right?"

Susie nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Well, I'm going to wake up your little sister, and then do you think you could help me to check on the rest of our friends? They all breathed in the same gas we did, and I wanted to be sure they're alright."

Susie nodded, starting to wake up a little bit more now. "Can I be a doctor too?"

Hank couldn't hide his smile as he tapped the end of her nose again. "Yes, of course. You can be my assistant."

Susie broke into a  _huge_ grin at that and then flung her arms around Hank's neck in a tight hug.

* * *

It actually hadn't taken too long for the X-Men to find their missing friends — to everyone's great relief. Once Jean reached out to Charles, it was a quick matter to locate them and send out a jet. But even with as fast as they got there, it was clear everyone felt like it was too slow. Especially since two of the youngest kids in the school, not to mention the three babies on the way, were vulnerable to Sinister the whole time.

When the jet landed, though, Logan had to narrow his eyes when he saw that K was still leaning against Clint. She was doing a good job hiding how  _much_ she needed the help when the others got there, but that just wasn't going to work on Logan — and she knew it.

It certainly wasn't helping his temper, either, that Jean was so pale or that Clint was almost convulsively looking over his shoulder like he was just waiting for Sinister to show up and break up their escape. The one upside was that Rachel seemed to be totally fine; she was even in high spirits and babbling to Charles, holding her hands out until Scott put her in Charles' lap so she could get his full attention — even if Charles was only half paying attention to the little girl while he conversed telepathically with Scott and Jean to get the story of what happened.

Still, Logan's main focus was his wife, and he put an arm around her and led her back to the jet, watching her with a concentrated sort of look on his face that didn't go away, even after they were seated in the jet.

But whatever was on his mind, it got a bit derailed when Clint simply attached to Logan as soon as he sat down. Even if he wasn't as small as he used to be, he was almost tucking into Logan's side all the same.

"It wasn't super horrible this time," Clint said — though that seemed a little hard to swallow, considering how tightly he was holding to Logan. But then again, with a guy like Sinister, pretty much everything was relative. "He wasn't cutting anyone up or nothing. He just… took lots of little blood vial things and did some stuff like Dr. Blue does when he checks on Miss Jean and Mom… and he gave Rachel kind of a checkup too. She's got a Band-Aid on her finger." It was obvious he was still shaken by how fast he was talking, though Logan also noticed that he hadn't said a word about himself, either — and Logan could see he was pale too.

"Alright," Logan told him in a low rumble, though he was more or less stuck with K on one side and Clint latched on to the other. "Just take a breath, try and breathe even." He was frowning over the idea of it despite his comforting tone, and though he knew Clint wasn't lying, he was still having some trouble  _not_ trying to sift through the scents to see if there was something he could decipher outside of the usual medical scents clinging to them both.

"Actually, Clint's the one that got us out," Scott said as he and Jean sat down nearby.

"Not surprised," Logan said. "He's workin' on gettin' a tryout for the team, you know."

Scott smirked at that, especially when Clint was nodding so  _enthusiastically._ "He got me loose so I could hit Sinister, and he took care of Rachel for me too, didn't you, Clint?"

Clint nodded, starting to draw himself up a little. "I wasn't gonna let a stupid creep hurt anyone," he promised.

"You did good," Logan promised.

Clint smiled at that, obviously pleased with himself. "It's 'cause he wasn't expecting me to be so good at fighting back already," he said, leaning toward Logan, his eyes sparkling now that he had realized this was  _heroic_  and a chance to show that he could be an X-Man. "Even if I'm not so small anymore, people always underestimate kids."

Logan smirked, especially since Clint was coming out of his clear panic. "Good news for you, then, eh?"

Clint nodded. "D'you think that means I can try out for the team sooner?" he asked. "Since I already took on a  _supervillain_?"

Scott smirked at that. "You need to get through Logan's class first, Clint."

"Well, he's my  _dad_ , so I'll just make him teach me — right, Dad?" Clint turned to look at Logan. "Right?"

"We'll see how it goes," Logan said. "No reason not to start trainin' you right."

Clint grinned even wider. "That's great." He settled back against his seat, nodding a few times to himself, well and truly distracted now that he had something else to focus on.

 _You should know,_ Jean projected to Logan, since Clint had clearly moved on,  _from what we saw and the panic Clint was projecting_ —  _both K and Clint are in his crosshairs with us. He really wasn't expecting Clint to be awake. It might be a power starting to show up._

 _That doesn't really help_ , Logan projected back.

 _No, but I thought you should know what was going on_ —  _because you know Clint won't tell you about himself if he can help it._

 _Right,_ Logan replied, though that was almost to himself as he thought it over.  _Gonna have to come up with a better way to keep the guy back. I just don't know what the hell I can do._

 _I won't lie: if I hadn't been so drugged, I was_ this  _close to just lobotomizing him in his body. Keep him there so he can't get away and then… deal with it._ Jean shook her head.  _Fun fact: it's much harder to hold back angry, destructive, fiery power when I'm already emotional and pregnant and miserable._

 _That's great, Jeannie._  Logan's response even sounded completely flat.  _Thanks for the heads up._

 _Oh, I can handle it,_ Jean promised quickly, recognizing the tone for what it was and trying to keep him from getting too depressed.  _It's harder, yeah, but having Rachel around grounds me like nothing I've ever had before. The Phoenix can't offer me anything that I want more than my family, not when I see Rachel. I'm just trying to figure out how to get rid of Sinister without crossing other lines, you know?_

Logan didn't respond more than to simply look her way and nod once.

"Oh, hey!" Clint said, breaking into their conversation with a small smile. "I know he's a creep an' all, but he says it's a boy too, so I'm for  _sure_ getting a brother to help me fight off Katie and Susie takin' over. Isn't that great?" He grinned at Logan. "I'm going to teach him how to be an X-Man and Avenger too!"

"If there's a market for it by the time he's old enough," Logan said, doing his best to try and keep Clint going. "You might just clear out Hydra by then."

"Oooh, good point," Clint said, nodding seriously. "I  _am_ older." He glanced at K. "What do you think, Mom? Maybe I should leave some small bad guys for my brother to fight?"

"Oh yeah, that's … just a matter of time," K said in a tired tone. "Nah, he'll live without 'em fine."

"Okay. Maybe he can help me get rid of the evil government guys that're after you and Dad after I get rid of all the Hydra guys…"

"I'd rather get rid of them first," K replied. "Then you don't have to deal with them."

"Okay, but if you don't, I'm gonna get rid of 'em so fast their heads'll spin, okay?" Clint smiled K's way. "I'm gonna take care of  _you_ once I'm big enough. Since you take care of me so much."

K tipped her head a little more, settling in at Logan's shoulder, though it was clear she was still a little off by her answer. "Might be a good idea," she said in a sigh. "Undercover, non-mutant … handsome as hell. Some spies start younger than you, though, training wise, anyhow … "

Clint nodded. "Can you help me do it?"

Before K could answer, Logan reached up to cover her mouth. "You're not gettin' any promises outta her when she's like this."

"Awww, you're no fun," Clint pouted.

"Yeah, except I've seen the kids going through spy programs, and I'm not havin' it," Logan said.

"But I'd be with  _Mom_ …."

"I'm not gonna let you get spy crazy before you're old enough to  _not_ let it take over your whole personality."

"I'm old enough!" Clint insisted. "I am!"

"Why don't you focus on getting through a combat class in the fall first," Scott suggested.

"He knows he'll do fine there," Logan said. "Or he  _thinks_ he will."

"I  _know_ I will," Clint said. "I've been learning with you and Mom — and Jan's been helping me too!"

"Oh, yeah, fashionista chic'll help you there," Logan chuckled.

"She's my favorite Avenger," Clint insisted.

"Nothin' wrong with that," Logan said. "If you wanna fight like her."

Clint rolled his eyes. "She's not the  _only_ one helping me. You can't…  _pigeon-hole_ me."

"Alright," Logan said, settling in where K could snuggle in deeper. "If you say so, kiddo. Hell, you got Stark lookin' into ways to make sure your  _bow_ is a viable weapon if you keep it."

"Yeah, he told me he's thinking about finding more stuff that goes  _boom_ ," Clint said with a grin. "I think it's because he's mad we're staying here this summer while Mom's hiding from people."

"Yep," Logan agreed. "He was hopin' to spend time with both of you and hopin' that I'd take Cap up on the offer to go Hydra hunting. I'm  _not_."

"Mom did pretty good hunting Hydra, you know. You should totally both be Avengers in the summertimes and stuff," Clint said.

"She did," Logan agreed. "But I'm stickin' with her for the summer."

"Well, yeah. Because she's doing all the work, like you said."

"Smart kid," Jean laughed.

"Among other things, yeah," Logan agreed.

"And handsome," Clint said, smirking K's way. "Can't let 'em forget that. Even if Mom's still too tired to catch it."

"I just thought it went without saying," K defended with a smirk.

"Yeah, but you like saying it," Clint teased right back. "You're weird like that."

"Yeah," she agreed, then picked her head up a little to look at Clint. "So … I am going to let you tell Jan that there is no way in hell we're using her baby name pick."

"Umm… okay. What did she ask for?"

"She was stuck on 'Elizabeth'," K said. "Which ... "

"Is a double-barrel 'no'," Logan finished.

Clint paused and looked between the two of them and their matching expressions. "Okay. I feel like I'm missing something…"

"It's ours," Jean broke in. She knew the look on Logan's face and didn't want him to have to talk about whatever had him looking that way if he didn't want to. "I wanted a Lizzie."

"Didn't know that, but … good," Logan said.

"She picked the girl, and I thought we could use 'Nate' for the boy," Scott said. "Family name."

"Nate and Lizzie," Clint said, his head tipped to the side. "Nate and Lizzie and Rachel. That's pretty cool."

"Glad you approve," Jean said, smiling Clint's way.

Clint smiled and then glanced up at Logan before he slipped out from under Logan's arm and then gave Jean a solid hug too. "I'll help all of them learn to be heroes too. Don't you worry. I won't  _just_ help my brother and Katie."

Jean smiled at that and kissed his forehead. "You're amazing — you know that, right?"

"That's what Mom says," Clint said.

"Well, it's true," Jean said. "Thanks for watching out for all of us."

"He's just like that," K said. "He can't help himself."

Clint smirked at that and simply snuggled in. "Okay, Mom."


	13. Family Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Barton-Bishop-Howlett family goes to the circus.

**Chapter 13: Family Vacation**

The Bishop girls were  _so_ excited to go to the circus — and honestly, Clint was ready to go, too. Even if it had been a little while since Sinister had grabbed everyone, he could still tell that both of his parents were more than a little on edge about the whole thing, and Scott was a little more grumpy than usual. He knew it was because everyone was worried, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

So he was looking forward to finding Barney and having a birthday party and doing something  _normal_ for a little while. He really, really didn't want to stick around and watch Logan make that face that Clint was sure meant he was upset whenever he thought about Sinister. And he really didn't want to try to explain to Katie — again — that everyone was okay and they were just sad because of supervillains, not anything  _world-ending_.

(Of course, she argued that supervillains were the  _worst_ , which was true. But still.)

Anyway, Clint was finally feeling  _normal_ again when he sat down with his family to see the performance. It was a lot like when he and K had just been starting out as a family - going to the circus to check on Barney, eating lots of junk food…

"We need to go to the circus more," Clint told K in an undertone as the performers started up their opening act.

"Because you like the show, because you miss your brother, or because you're taking a sudden interest in the tight outfits on the trapeze women?" K shot back without missing a beat.

Clint rolled his eyes. "You're confusing me with Barney.  _He's_ the one with a crush on Ana the Acrobat."

"Maaaybe," K said, tipping her head up. "But … that little redheaded one has been smiling at you."

Clint paused and then looked toward the acrobats, turning a brilliant red when he saw the girl with red hair and freckles looking his way — and then looking away when she saw that she'd been caught. "Oh. Yeah. She's… she's pretty cute I guess."

"I'm just wondering if you're going to have a  _type_ ," K said.

"I'm  _nine_ , Mom. I'm not old enough to have a  _type_."

"Yeah, but it starts early," K said.

Clint shook his head and shoved K lightly in the shoulder. "I just like seeing my brother."

"Oh. Okay. I'll make sure he knows how much you missed him."

"Eww, no. You can't go all  _mushy_!" Clint said, shaking his head.

"Squish, squish, quack, quack …"

"Why are you like this, Mom?" Clint giggled.

"I thought you liked me like this."

"I mean, I do, but how come you  _are_ like this?"

"I don't know," K said, shaking her head. "Probably something  _wrong_ with me."

Clint sighed and shook his head. "Nah. You're just weird."

"I'm sure that's exactly what every girl wants to hear. Don't ever forget to use that."

"Hey, Dad says I shouldn't lie. And you  _are_ weird," Clint said, smirking up at K.

"Mmm. If that's the case, then I should tell you he's got a surprise for you tonight."

"Yeah?" Clint sat up a bit straighter. "But it's  _Barney's_  birthday!"

"Well, it's for both of you — and Katie and Susie-Q, too."

Clint grinned. "Oh, good, because I think they need something to make them happier since they're not getting a sister." He leaned closer. "I told Katie you had a brother just for me because I was here first and you like making me happy. She was so  _mad_."

"Oh, so  _that's_ why she was giving me dirty looks and hit Logan."

Clint's grin got even wider, somehow. "Hey, she was bothering me."

"I'm not mad."

"Yeah, because it was funny watching Dad try and figure out why Katie was mad at him when she was being all snuggly before."

"She wouldn't tell him either, you know," K said.

"She's funny. I like playing with her and Rachel." Clint paused. "Only don't tell them that, because sometimes I can't get them to stop following me, and I don't want to play with them  _all_ the time. They're so  _little_!"

"I think they  _know_ you like them," K told him.

"I guess that's good then," Clint said with a shrug, though he held up a hand to shush K when Barney and Miranda stepped into the ring.

It was fun to watch Katie and Susie, too, because they had never seen Barney do his thing before. Katie was enjoying herself generally, but the look on Susie's face was nothing short of pure  _awe_ — which had Logan and K sharing smirks, since they both knew about her  _very obvious_ crush on Barney.

When Barney and Miranda had their big "final fight," Susie was almost holding her breath, wincing with every blow and letting out little noises… and then when Barney "defeated" Miranda, she started outright cheering. "Wow! That was really close!" she breathed out.

"Yeah, they're really good, huh?" Clint said

"Uh-huh."

Katie giggled. "Susie  _liiikes_ Barney," she informed Logan as she grabbed a handful of popcorn.

"Yeah, we all know that," Clint told her, which got Susie to turn a brilliant red and Katie to dissolve into giggles.

"Nothing wrong with being able to spot cute, Susie Q," K promised her with a little smile.

Susie scrunched her shoulders up. "My Dr. Blue says I've got good taste," she said quietly.

"Sure do," K agreed.

"He says when I get bigger, he'll help me snag guys," Susie said. "He says he'll… he'll 'screen' 'em. Which is good, I think."

"Oh, well. Just remember that," K said, trying to keep from laughing at the situation. "That it's good."

"I will," Susie said, then gasped in delight when the horses came out and got completely distracted — giving K a chance to catch Logan's gaze so she had at least a little outlet for how completely entertained she was by Hank being a total marshmallow over Susie.

Once the show was over, the whole family made sure to hang around until Barney was able to get away and tackle Clint in a hug. "Saw you in the audience!" he declared as he took Clint to the ground and the two of them started a wrestling match, as they usually did.

"I saw you do that cool hand switch," Clint said once the two of them had picked themselves up. "You've been practicing both hands."

"Well, yeah. Kurt does both hands, and I gotta change things up sometimes, right?"

"Yeah. He's showing me how to get better with my right."

Barney nodded. "Miranda has some cool tips, too. You should talk to her before you guys head back."

"Okay, but we have to have your birthday dinner and cake and stuff first."

"Yeah, duh," Barney said, grinning widely as he looped an arm around Clint's shoulders. "Italian, right, Mom?"

"If that's your pick, sure thing, birthday boy," K agreed easily.

"I really want some spaghetti and meatballs," Barney admitted. "I like the kind you make, but we can get some at a restaurant too."

"We've got a cottage set aside if you'd like," K said.

Barney grinned. "Lead on."

K and Logan were hand in hand as the boys goofed around and the girls followed, grinning — though Susie was clearly much more charmed as she watched the brothers roughhouse.

Once they were in the house, Clint was quick to show Barney the movies they'd picked out to go through — if he  _wanted_ — while K and Logan headed to the kitchen to get dinner going, letting the boys get a little space and a chance to really show off for the Bishop sisters, of course.

By the time dinner was done, the boys had somehow talked the girls into a sort of on-the-spot sword lesson. Clint and Katie were clearly just having a blast as Katie tried to take Clint down with her stick and Clint tried to stop laughing long enough to show her how to hold it… but Susie was actually very concentrated as she listened to all of Barney's tips on how to hold it, even if it was just a stick from outside the cabin.

But when they saw Logan and K, all four of them tumbled their way into the kitchen — even if Katie did need to be negotiated with to convince her to relinquish her "sword."

Of course, this time around, the sauce wasn't  _quite_ as garlick-y as Barney remembered, but it was still a whole lot better than the on-the-go fare he was used to — and tired of.

Susie nudged Barney's shoulder. "We got your favorite cake too," she told him with a shy smile. "For your birthday."

Barney grinned. "This is why I love birthdays," he said. "Mom always makes the best stuff."

"Just try to make it the way you want it," K said. "Part of the whole 'happy' on the happy birthday."

"Mom's the best," Clint agreed, though he paused and caught K's gaze to sign out,  _And you have a surprise, right?_

K nodded and looked like she was holding her breath. "And … we figured this was probably the best time we had to let you know what we're naming your little brother."

Barney's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"Well, your clothes and things are on your bed, as always," K said. "But yeah. Didn't want to tell them without telling you at the same time."

"Guess it's only fair, even if I found out he even existed before anyone else," Barney teased.

"You're part of the group; you were just quicker to spot it," Logan told him.

Barney smiled at that. "So, what'd you decide?"

"James," K told the little group, watching each of them for a reaction. "Boys, you already know that 'K' isn't my real name, but 'Logan' isn't really your dad's name either. But … since he wasn't using 'James' … we thought someone should get some good use out of it."

"Not an action hero," Logan said, looking at Clint. "But 'Arnold' kinda fell in the same group as all the 'nopes'."

Clint was slowly starting to grin. "It's totally an action hero name," he said before he rushed over to hug Logan. "'Cause it's yours."

Logan was sure to return the hug just as strongly as Clint had given it. "Little bit of a stretch there, kiddo."

"Nope. Not even a little bit."

"He's right, you know," Barney said, though he had gone right to K to hug her. "First time I met you, you saved all our lives. Totally counts."

"You three wouldn't have been in trouble with that creep if I wasn't involved," Logan said, sure he was correcting them.

Barney and Clint glanced at each other before they shook their heads in tandem. "Totally an action hero," they said — almost completely in tandem.

K leaned over to steal a kiss from Logan. "Just accept it, love." Which at least got Logan to stop arguing it. For now.

The girls made their way over once the boys had gotten in their hugs, with Susie hugging K and Katie practically climbing up Logan until he had no choice but to pick her up. "I like James," Susie said.

"It's  _okay_ ," Katie sighed dramatically. "For a  _boy_."

"What would you have liked?" Logan asked.

Katie grinned and leaned forward until she was touching noses with Logan. "A sister."

"Well, you can't have one this time," Logan said. "You'll have to live with it."

"Okay, well, you gotta get me one next time," Katie informed him.

"I don't get to pick, kiddo," Logan told her.

"That's not what Susie's dad says!" Katie sang out.

"Then he's stretchin' the truth," Logan said, smirking at her.

"No, he only stretches words," Katie said, making a face. "Biiiiig words."

"He stretches the truth when he's tryin' to get me in trouble," Logan told her.

Katie giggled. "My Clint says you're always in trouble and that's how come you're so much fun."

"That's what Kurt says," Logan replied, shaking his head at her.

"Well, that must be where he gotted it from," Katie said with an easy shrug. "Kurt says funny things  _allll_ the time."

"Cause he wants me to swing 'im around by his tail," Logan told her seriously.

Katie clapped a hand over her mouth. "But that would hurt!"

"He can be a weird little Elf."

"Yeah, but you shouldn't hurt 'im just because he's weird," Katie said. "My Clint says we shouldn't hurt people even if he showed me how to hit people. He said it's only for bad guys like the one that grabbed him and your K."

Logan didn't really have an argument for that, so instead, he quietly agreed and pulled her into a little one-armed hug. "You're smart as a whip, Katie-girl."

Katie smiled and snuggled in. "I love you too, Daddy."

Of course, that was only met with a little kiss on her forehead before she could slip away to her seat again, since Barney was all set up to cut his cake, and she was ready for  _more_ sugar.

And Clint had to grin when he heard that Katie was on board with being part of the group. Things were shaping up better for their family. And the parts that weren't good… they could weather the rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it for this volume! We wanted to end it on a high note, after all. Keep your eyes peeled for the next volume, "Who Needs Powers?" That should go up next week. :D


End file.
